tihraxy  of  t:he  Cheolo0ical  Seminary 

PRINCETON  .  NEW  JERSEY 

FROM  THE  LIBRARY  OF 
ROBERT  ELLIOTT  SPEER 


H78  1899 


BV  4501 

Houston,  Matthew  Hale 

By  his  life 


BY  HIS  LIFE. 


^ftH  OF  PBM^ 


FED  20  1959 
Logical  stv^ 


%i 


BY  HIS  LIFE 


MATTHEW  HALE  HOUSTON 


I.ATE  MISSIONARY  TO  CHINA. 


RICHMOND,   VA.: 
*  AVhittet  &  Shepperson,  General  Printers. 

1S99. 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 
CHAPTER  I. 


A  Wonderful  Thing, 


CHAPTER  II. 
His  Desire, 11 

CHAPTER  III. 
Saved  by  His  Life, 20 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Place  of  Victory, 28 

CHAPTER  V. 

The  True  Bridegroom, 42 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Out  of  the  Wilderness,  ....       51 

CHAPTER  VII. 
The  Perfect  Man, 64 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
An  Insoluble  Question,         ....       73 

CHAPTER  IX. 
An  Unclouded  Gospel, 85 

CHAPTER  X. 
Closing  Words 102 


To  EVERYONE  who  is  thirsting  for  a  better 
life  this  little  book  is  addressed,  in  the  hope 
that  the  very  simple  manner  in  which  the 
waters  of  life  are  pointed  out  may  lead 
some — perhaps  not  a  few — to  drink  and  be 
filled. 

Bible  Institute, 

Altamont,  S,  C. 


BY  HIS  LIFE 


CHAPTER  I. 
A  Wonderful  Thing. 

Do  you  wish  to  live  a  noble  and  happy  life  ? 
Do  you  wish  to  be  true  and  loving  and  brave? 
Do  you  wish  to  have  good  success,  a  tri- 
umphant career,  and  then  to  pass  out  of  this 
world  without  fear?  I  write  this  little  book 
to  show  you  how  all  this  may  surely  be  yours. 

You  are  aware  that  there  is  something,  per- 
haps much,  in  your  life  that  is  wrong.  As  a 
result,  you  have  had  humiliating  failures. 
You  have  sometimes  wished  for  a  better  life, 
but  have  not  secured  what  your  heart  desired. 
Has  it  ever  occurred  to  you  that  there  is  such 
a  thing  as  giving  up  your  present  life,  with 
its  failures,  and  receiving  a  new,  fresh  life  in 
its  place — a  life  which  will  insure  success? 
Would  not  this  be  a  wonderful  and  a  very 
happy  thing? 

Suppose  an  army  of  ill-trained,  demoral- 
ized soldiers.  In  camp,  they  are  slovenly; 
on  parade,  they  are  awkward ;   in  action,  they 


8  By  His  Life. 

are  cowardly.  But  they  have  a  general  who 
is  a  model  in  all  military  affairs.  He  was 
once  a  private  in  the  ranks ;  he  did  every 
duty  of  a  private  fully.  He  was  afterwards  a 
captain,  then  a  colonel.  As  he  rose  from 
grade  to  grade,  he  was  always  intelligent, 
brave,  faithful.  As  a  general,  he  is  the  very 
prince  and  ornament  of  army  life.  And  now 
suppose  that  he  is  able  to  put  his  own  spirit 
into  every  officer  and  every  private  in  his 
command,  what  a  transformation  there  will 
be !  Every  man  becomes  a  model  in  his  own 
rank.  The  whole  force  is  now  alert,  full  of 
courage,  thoroughly  efficient.  Were  it  pos- 
sible for  the  spirit  of  the  commander  thus  to 
be  infused  into  the  life  of  all  his  troops, 
would  not  this  be  a  wonderful  thing? 

Or,  we  suppose  a  good  man  who  has 
adopted  several  boys  and  girls  into  his  fam- 
ily, that  he  may  be  a  father  to  them.  These 
children  are  all  careless,  ignorant,  vicious. 
But  the  father  by  adoption  is  so  wise,  so  kind, 
that  we  could  wish  nothing  better  for  the 
children  than  that  they  should  be  like  him. 
Now,  if  we  had  a  method  by  which  the  dis- 
orderly, evil  life  of  each  child  could  be  taken 
away  and  the  life  of  their  good  father  put  in 
its  stead,  would  not  this  be  a  wonderful,  a 
joyful  change? 


By  His  Life.  9 

I  have  to  tell  you  of  something  more  won- 
derful than  either  of  the  things  I  have  now 
mentioned.  It  is  as  true  as  it  is  wonderful. 
All  we  who  are  living  on  the  earth  were  born 
into  the  world  with  much  in  us  that  was 
wrong.  Many  of  us  grew  up  with  the  wrong 
life  still  in  us.  Some  of  us  learned  that  there 
was  a  better  life,  and  thirsted  for  it.  Some 
are  thirsting  now  for  a  pure,  true,  perfect 
life.  A  promise  has  been  left  us  that  all  who 
thirst  in  this  way  shall  be  filled.  I  wish  to 
point  out  to  you  in  a  simple  way  how  you 
may  be  filled. 

There  has  been  one  perfect  life  in  this 
world,  and  only  one.  Before  that  life  was 
seen  and  known,  the  longing  desire  of  many 
hearts  was  to  see  a  perfect  man.  Prophets 
and  righteous  men,  through  long  centuries, 
desired  to  see  this,  but  saw  it  not.  At  last 
appeared  the  perfect  Son  of  man,  the  peer- 
less human  being,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  As 
a  child,  as  a  youth,  as  a  man,  he  was  alto- 
gether lovable.  In  his  intelligence  and  wis- 
dom, in  his  purity  and  love,  in  his  courage 
and  truth,  in  his  devotion  to  God  our  Father, 
in  his  sympathetic  and  lowly  service  for  man, 
he  was  without  a  spot.  From  heaven  the 
Father  looked  down  on  him  with  unalloyed 
pleasure.     Here  was  a  life  on  earth  like  the 


lo  By  His  Life. 

clearest  crystal,  without  a  flaw.  Here  was  a 
career,  from  the  beginning  onward,  without 
a  failure.  At  every  point  he  triumphed.  He 
so  spoke  that  all  enemies  were  put  to  silence. 
He  so  lived  that  the  judge  who  passed  on 
him  the  sentence  of  death  declared  that  no 
fault  was  found  in  him.  And  now  the  Father 
has  raised  him  to  the  highest  point  of  honor 
in  the  universe.  He  is  Lord  of  all.  What  a 
glorious  life  !  Do  you  wish  to  live  such  a  life  ? 
Do  you  wish  to  rise  to  such  a  summit  of 
honor  ?  Are  you  really  hungering  and  thirst- 
ing for  this?  I  have  to  tell  you  that  your 
wish  may  be  fully  satisfied. 

Do  you  ask  how?  I  answer  that  the  per- 
fect, glorious  Son  of  man  will  put  his  own 
Spirit  in  you.  The  general  at  the  head  of  the 
ignorant,  demoralized  army  could  not  put  his 
own  spirit  into  his  troops  to  make  them  like 
himself.  The  good  man  who  took  vicious 
children  into  his  family  had  no  power  to  im- 
part his  own  life  of  truth  and  love  to  them. 
But  here  is  the  wonderful  thing  in  the  uni- 
verse :  the  Lord  Jesus  does  put  his  own  Spirit 
into  everyone  who  is  willing  to  be  like  him. 
He  does  give  his  own  life  to  everyone  willing 
to  live  as  he  lived.  Is  it  your  will  to  be  per- 
fect as  he  is  perfect  ? 


CHAPTER  II. 

His  Desire. 

I  WISH  now  to  tell  you — it  is  tidings  of 
great  joy— that  Jesus  Christ  most  earnestly 
wishes  to  fill  you  with  his  own  Spirit.  You 
have  heard  of  his  love  to  everyone  in  the 
world.  It  passes  all  that  we  can  think. 
''God  our  Saviour  will  have  all  men  to  be 
saved,  and  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth."  His  pity,  his  sympathy  for  us,  who 
can  measure  them?  With  this  love  in  his 
heart,  he  descended  to  the  lowest  place  ever 
held  by  man.  As  a  babe,  he  lay  helpless  in 
the  stable  at  Bethlehem.  As  a  man,  he  went 
down  to  the  shame  and  agony  and  desertion 
of  the  cross.  After  this  he  ascended  to  a 
point  which  is  far  above  the  clouds ;  far  above 
the  sun  and  moon  and  stars.  And  why  did 
he  thus  descend  and  then  ascend?  The  Apostle 
Paul  tells  us :  "He  that  descended  is  the  same 
also  that  ascended  up  far  above  all  heavens, 
that  he  might  fill  all  things."^  In  that  strange 
career  of  humiliation  and  suffering,  and  in 
that  wonderful  going  up  to  the  pinnacle  of 
'Ephesians.  iv.  lo. 


12  By  His  Life. 

the  universe,  his  object  was  that  he  might  fill 
everyone ;  that  is,  everyone  who  is  willing  to 
receive  his  Spirit,  everyone  who  does  not  bar 
him  out. 

Here  we  were  on  earth  wretched  in  our 
lives.  Malice  and  envy  and  bitterness  dwelt 
in  us.  We  were  false  and  mean.  We  had  no 
rest  and  no  hope.  Our  compassionate  Lord 
wished  to  take  away  this  wretched  life,  and 
fill  us  with  his  own  life  of  love  and  joy  and 
peace.  To  do  this  he  became  a  man.  As  a 
man,  he  could  have  such  a  life  himself  only 
by  being  filled  with  the  Spirit  of  God  the 
Father — that  is,  with  the  Holy  Spirit.  So 
from  his  earliest  infancy,  the  Spirit  of  the 
Father  dwelt  in  him.  At  the  age  of  thirty 
he  stooped  to  a  lowly  act  of  humiliation. 
Though  he  was  pure  and  without  sin,  he  took 
the  place  of  a  sinner,  and  was  baptized  with 
the  water  of  Jordan.  It  is  by  acts  of  humility 
that  the  capacity  to  receive  the  Spirit  is  en- 
larged. As  he  prayed  on  the  bank  of  the 
Jordan,  the  heavens  were  opened  and  the 
Spirit  descended  with  all  purity  and  gentle- 
ness, and  filled  him.  Then  he  went  out  to 
his  public  ministry  among  men.  Whoever 
saw  him  saw  the  Father,  for  the  Spirit  of  the 
Father  continually  filled  him.  And  yet  he 
could  not  then  do  all  that  he  purposed  to  do 


By  His  Life.  13 

for  us.  Though  he  was  filled  with  the  Spirit, 
the  Spirit  did  not  so  fill  him  as  to  overflow 
and  fill  others. 

There  was  to  be 'a  grander  infilling.  He 
must  stoop  to  a  lower  point  of  humiliation 
than  his  baptism.  He  must  descend  to  the 
ignominy  of  the  cross.  He  knew  that  beyond 
this  shame  a  joy  unspeakable  awaited  him. 
He  had  the  promise  of  the  Father  as  to  what 
the  joy  should  be.  He  would  be  raised  to  the 
right  hand  of  the  Father,  and  so  filled  with 
the  Spirit  that  from  him  the  Spirit  would  come 
down  and  fill  those  on  earth  wdiom  he  loved. 
In  this  way  their  joy,  like  his,  would  be  full. 

The  Father  performed  the  promise.  Jesus, 
in  his  heavenly  exaltation,  was  filled  with  the 
Spirit  of  gladness  and  power.  Then  he  sent 
down  the  vSpirit  to  the  men  and  women  who 
wxre  looking  to  him  for  the  same  gift  of  joy. 
He  filled  them  with  the  Spirit  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  and  from  that  day  to  this  he  has 
filled  all  those  who  have  looked  to  him  as 
they  looked.  Other  men  and  other  women 
may  not  receive  the  same  gift  of  tongues  that 
excited  amazement  in  the  gathering  crowds 
at  Pentecost,  for  there  are  "diversities  of 
gifts."  There  may  not  again  be  heard  in  any 
house  the  sound  of  a  rushing,  mighty  wind 
as  the    Spirit    descends  to  dwell    in    human 


14  By  His  Life. 

hearts.  These  are  circumstances  which  do 
not  affect  the  reception  of  the  fulness  of  the 
Spirit  by  any  man.  You  have  received  the 
Ten  Commandments.  They  did  not  come 
down  to  you  with  hghtning  and  smoke  and 
the  sound  of  a  trumpet ;  yet  you  possess  them 
with  all  their  fulness  and  force,  as  truly  as 
if  you  had  stood  at  the  foot  of  Sinai  when 
the  tables  of  stone  were  handed  down.  Just 
so  you  may  now  receive  the  fulness  of  the 
Spirit  sent  down  by  Jesus  Christ,  though  no 
tongue  of  fire  rest  on  your  head,  and  no  rush- 
ing sound  fill  your  ears. 

Can  anything  be  more  wonderful  and  glo- 
rious? Can  anything  be  more  joyful  to  you 
and  to  me?  Think  of  it.  Never  stop  think- 
ing of  it.  There  above  the  heights  of  the 
highest  stars  is  our  perfect  Brother,  a  foun- 
tain of  the  Spirit  of  life  to  us.  What  is  it 
you  w^ant?  What  is  the  object  of  your  long- 
ing desire?  Is  it  more  joy,  more  wisdom, 
more  strength,  more  love,  more  courage,  more 
patience,  more  success  ?  Whatever  it  be,  now 
in  Christ  Jesus  you  may  get  what  you  will. 
He  sees  the  cravings  of  your  heart,  and  he 
says :  "If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto 
me  and  drink."  Any  man ;  this  is  the  Lord 
Jesus  laying  his  hand  of  love  on  you  and 
speaking  to  you.      No  matter    what  be  the 


By  His  Life.  15 

thirst  of  your  soul  for  good,  he  will  satisfy  it. 
John  tells  us  in  his  gospel  that  Jesus,  when 
he  uttered  those  words,  spoke  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  whom  he  would  send  down  after  he 
had  been  glorified — that  is,  after  he  had  gone 
to  the  Father.  And  now  he  is  ready  and  wait- 
ing to  fill  you  with  his  Spirit.  He  wishes  to 
give  you  his  life  to  take  the  place  of  your 
own  life.  He  wishes  to  assure  your  success. 
He  wishes  to  make  your  whole  career  tri- 
umphant. 

Have  you  ever  considered  what  an  im- 
mense advantage  you  have  over  millions  of 
your  fellow-men  who  once  lived  on  the  earth  ? 
Noah  or  Abraham  or  David  or  Solomon 
never  knew  such  a  thing  as  the  spirit  of  a  per- 
fect man.  ''I  have  seen  an  end  of  all  perfec- 
tion," said  David.  As  a  result  of  this  the 
Holy  Spirit,  like  the  dove  sent  out  the  first 
time  over  the  troubled  waters  of  the  flood, 
found  no  place  of  rest  in  the  hearts  of  sinful 
men.  Then  came  the  perfect  man.  In  him 
the  Spirit  dwelt,  and  with  him  ascended  to 
heaven,  as  the  dove,  on  its  second  mission, 
brought  back  to  the  ark  the  olive  branch,  the 
token  of  a  new,  fresh  life  that  should  spread 
over  the  whole  earth.  And  yet  even  at  the 
time  when  Jesus  stood  on  the  earth,  the  Holy 
Spirit,  as  John  tells  us,  was  not  yet. 


i6  By  His  Life. 

This  does  not  mean  that  the  Spirit  of  God 
had  not,  in  the  years  before,  come  down  to 
bless  men.  David  and  Isaiah,  Peter  and  John, 
and  many  others,  had  received  the  Spirit  and 
been  glad.  But  the  meaning  is  that  the  Spirit 
of  God  bringing  to  men  the  life  of  a  perfect 
man  to  abide  in  them,  this  was  not  yet.  This 
could  not  be  till  Jesus  went  up  to  his  place  of 
glory.  When  he  had  received  the  Spirit  there, 
his  life  of  gentleness  and  love  could  de- 
scend to  all  men.  Then  the  dove  could  come 
the  third  time  to  abide  in  any  spot  on  earth. 
Then  the  splendid  reservoir  of  a  perfect  man- 
hood could  pour  down  its  waters  of  life  to 
men.  "Of  his  fulness  have  all  we  received," 
says  John,  "and  grace  for  grace."  Every 
grace  in  that  holy  life  begets  a  corresponding 
grace  in  us.  His  courage  becomes  our  cour- 
age;  his  love  our  love;  his  joy  our  joy.  We 
are  refreshed  and  satisfied  with  the  crystal 
stream  which  broadens  and  deepens  as  it 
flows  on. 

But  perhaps  you  say  that  you  do  not  under- 
stand this;  you  do  not  know  what  is  meant 
by  the  Spirit  of  life  coming  down  from  Jesus 
and  filling  us.  Let  me  assure  you  that  this  is 
one  of  those  simple  facts  which  you  may 
know  as  clearly  as  you  know  the  facts  of  your 
every-day  life.     Do  you  not  know  that  the 


By  His  Life.  17 

life  and  nervous  energy  of  your  head  comes 
down  and  fills  your  whole  hand  ?  Do  you  not 
know  that  the  life  and  sap  of  the  vine  flows 
in  and  fills  the  branch?  Just  so  the  life  and 
Spirit  of  Jesus  pours  down  and  fills  everyone 
willing  to  receive  this  fulness.  You  may  not 
understand  it,  but  you  may  know  it. 

Look  around  you  in  the  world.  On  every 
side  God  is  speaking  to  you  in  parables,  re- 
minding you  and  teaching  you  what  it  is  to  be 
filled.  You  rise  in  the  morning;  you  draw 
back  the  curtain  and  throw  open  the  shutter ; 
the  streaming  light  pours  in  and  fills  the 
room.  You  take  your  place  at  the  breakfast 
table ;  before  you  is  the  empty  cup  waiting  to 
be  filled.  The  glittering  rain  descends  from 
heaven  ;  your  cistern  is  open ;  how  quickly  it 
is  filled !  You  look  out  on  the  landscape ; 
every  leaf  on  every  tree,  quivering  in  life,  is 
filled  with  freshness  drawn  from  the  parent 
stem.  Your  heart  throbs ;  at  every  pulsation 
the  blood  speeds  onward  to  fill  your  whole 
body  to  the  finger  tips.  You  draw  your 
breath ;  the  free  air  presses  in  and  fills  every 
cell  of  your  lungs.  Filled !  Filled !  The 
works  of  God  cry  out  to  you  on  every  hand. 
Many  men  and  many  women,  the  messengers 
of  God  on  earth,  take  up  the  cry  in  this  day, 
''Be  filled  with  the  Spirit."    God,  who  wishes 


i8  By  His  Life. 

you  to  have  a  fulness  of  blessing,  lays  on  you 
the  command,  Be  filled. 

Do  you  say,  "I  am  willing  to  be  filled  with 
the  Spirit  of  Christ ;  but  how  may  I  be  filled  ?" 
Here,  again,  I  assure  you  that  the  matter  is 
a  very  simple  one.  The  Lord  Jesus,  though 
he  is  high  and  lifted  up,  is  the  King  meek  and 
lowly.  He  is  very  near  each  one  of  us,  be- 
cause his  Spirit  is  with  us.  He  delights  to 
serve  and  help  us,  and  he  says,  "Ask  and  ye 
shall  receive."  As  surely  as  you  ask  for  the 
Holy  Spirit,  you  will  receive.  As  certainly 
as  you  wait  before  the  beloved  Master  for  his 
fulness,  you  will  be  filled.  Did  he  not  de- 
scend to  the  manger  and  the  cross,  and  did 
he  not  ascend  far  above  all  heavens,  for  this 
very  purpose?  How  is  it  possible  for  him  to 
refuse  you  now?  To  wait  before  him,  to 
ask,  to  receive — this  is  faith.  Do  you  want 
Christ  to  dwell  in  you  and  be  your  life? 
"That  Christ  may  dwell  in  your  hearts  by 
faith,"  is  the  word  of  God. 

Unbelief  refuses  to  ask;  faith  calls, 
stretches  out  empty  hands,  accepts.  Unbe- 
lief clings  to  its  own  life ;  faith  gives  up  the 
self-life  that  Christ  may  live  instead.  Unbe- 
lief breathes  in  the  foul  air  that  is  from  be- 
neath ;  faith  looks  up  to  Christ  and  breathes 
with  delight  the  pure  air  of  heaven.     Unbe- 


By  His  Life.  19 

lief  ties  a  cord  around  the  wrist  and  cuts  off 
the  sources  of  Hfe  from  the  hand ;  faith  un- 
ties the  cord  and  lets  the  life  flo\v^  m.  Unbe- 
lief will  not  drink  and  ever  thirsts ;  faith 
drinks  abundanly  and  is  refreshed.  Unbelief 
is  death ;  faith  is  life  and  peace. 

We  learn  from  John's  gospel  that  it  was 
with  no  ordinary  tone  Jesus  said,  "Let  him 
come  unto  me  and  drink."  He  stood  and 
cried.  The  prophet  Isaiah  had  said  of  him, 
**He  shall  not  cry,  nor  lift  up,  nor  cause  his 
voice  to  be  heard  in  the  street."  But  here 
was  an  exception  to  his  ordinary  manner  of 
speech.  The  earnest,  passionate  appeal  of 
love  extorted  from  him  a  cry.  So  he  loves 
you.  He  cries  to  you.  Drink.  Drink  freely. 
Drink  to  the  full.    Be  filled. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Saved  by  His  Life. 

You  have  now  heard  the  message  of  love 
from  the  King  of  heaven  and  earth.  He 
urges  you  to  accept  his  own  Ufe,  with  its 
abounding  joy  and  power,  which  can  never 
fail.  '*I  am  come  that  they  might  have  life, 
and  that  they  might  have  it  more  abund- 
antly." 'T  give  unto  them  eternal  life." 
"Christ  liveth  in  me."  "Christ  in  you,  the 
hope  of  glory."  As  you  read  these  lines  I  do 
not  know  what  relation  you  have  been  hold- 
ing towards  our  Father  in  heaven,  or  towards 
his  Son,  our  Saviour.  But  I  know  that  there 
is  a  sentence  in  the  Bible  which  indicates  your 
relation,  for  it  sweeps  over  the  whole  line  of 
experience  now  known  to  men.  Here  it  is : 
"For  if,  when  we  were  enemies,  we  were  re- 
conciled to  God  by  the  death  of  his  Son,  much 
more,  being  reconciled,  we  shall  be  saved  by 
his  life.^  The  line  starts,  you  observe,  at  the 
lowest  point  of  human  depravity — enmity  to 
God.  It  stretches  upward  to  the  height  of 
that  throne  which  is  far  above  all  heavens — 

'  Romans  v.  lo. 


By  His  Life.  21 

saved  by  the  life  of  the  Son.     And  it  marks 
out  the  intervening  space. 

At  what  point  on  the  line  you  find  yourself, 
it  is  yours  to  judge.  Are  you  at  that  fearful 
extremity — an  enemy  of  God  ?  Have  you  not 
yet  been  reconciled  to  your  Father  in  heaven  ? 
Have  you  never  known  what  it  is  to  come  to 
him  and  fall  on  his  bosom,  and  say,  ''Father, 
I  have  sinned"  ?  If  this  be  your  case,  the  first 
thing  for  you  to  do  is  to  be  reconciled  to  God 
by  the  death  of  his  Son.  Jesus  Christ  died 
for  you,  the  just  for  the  unjust,  to  bring  you 
to  God.  He  is  now  exalted  a  Prince  and  a 
Saviour,  as  Peter  declared,  to  give  repen- 
tance. Ask  him  to  give  you  this  royal  gift — 
repentance.  He  will  send  you  the  Spirit  of 
truth,  and  the  Spirit  will  show  you  the  grief 
you  have  caused  our  Father  by  your  hard 
and  wicked  course.  You  will  know  and  be- 
lieve the  love  that  God  has  to  you,  for  God 
is  love.  You  will  bow  before  him  with  a 
broken,  contrite  heart.  You  will  be  recon- 
ciled to  him,  to  be  his  loving,  obedient  child ; 
and  the  beloved  Son,  who  brought  you  to 
him,  you  will  most  gladly  accept  to  be  your 
Lord.  This  is  what  it  is  to  be  reconciled  to 
God.  My  heart's  desire  and  prayer  to  God 
is  that  no  one  whose  eyes  rest  on  this  page 
may  fail  to  be  reconciled  to  him. 


22  By  His  Life. 

But  I  assume  now  that  you  have  been  re- 
conciled to  God.  I  am  addressing  you  these 
words  because  I  take  you  to  be  one  who  has 
accepted  Jesus  as  Lord.  You  sincerely  de- 
sire to  live  his  life  of  humility  and  upright- 
ness and  love.  It  is  to  you,  therefore,  God 
says  that  you  shall  be  saved  by  the  life  of  his 
Son.  You  have  heard  of  the  book  of  the  life 
of  the  Lamb.  All  whose  names  are  not  writ- 
ten in  this  book  shall  be  cast  into  the  lake  of 
fire.  Only  those  who  have  the  life  of  the 
Son  of  God  are  delivered  from  the  wrath  to 
come.  If  any  man  have  not  the  Spirit  of 
Christ,  he  is  none  of  his.  We  are  saved  by 
his  life.  The  glad  message  set  before  you  in 
the  preceding  pages  is  that  he  wishes  not  only 
to  give  you  his  life,  but  to  give  it  more  abun- 
dantly. He  greatly  longs  to  fill  you  with  his 
Spirit  of  life.  And  now  I  wish  to  point  out 
some  important  facts  which  you  must  clearly 
apprehend,  in  order  that  this  fulness  of  bless- 
ing may  be  secured. 

You  have  already  received  the  Spirit  of 
Jesus  Christ.  The  proof  of  this  is  that  you 
accept  him  as  your  Lord.  ''No  man  can  say 
that  Jesus  is  the  Lord,  but  by  the  Holy 
Ghost."  Since  you  have  his  Spirit,  you  are 
one  with  him.  As  the  branch  is  one  with  the 
vine,  as  the  hand  is  of  one  body  w4th  the 


By  His  Life.  23 

head,  so  you  are  one  with  Christ.  You  may 
have  received  but  httle  of  his  Hfe ;  you  may 
have  but  a  small  measure  of  his  Spirit.  This 
cannot  do  away  with  the  fact.  You  are  one  with 
him.  The  branch  half  severed  from  the  vine, 
though  the  flow  of  sap  in  it  be  feeble,  is  one 
with  the  vine.  The  hand  weakened  by  a  cord 
tied  around  the  wrist,  though  it  receive  but 
little  nervous  power,  is  one  with  the  head. 
So  you  are  one  with  Christ.  I  beg  you  now 
vividly  to  realize  the  fact. 

When  Jesus  was  about  to  leave  the  world, 
he  said  to  his  disciples :  "Yet  a  little  while, 
and  the  world  seeth  me  no  more ;  but  ye  see 
me ;  because  I  live,  ye  shall  live  also."  Though 
he  was  to  be  parted  from  them,  they  would 
see  him.  There  is  a  clear-eyed  vision  of  faith. 
It  moves  and  acts  as  seeing  him  who  is  in- 
visible. As  the  writer  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  declares,  "We  see  Jesus  crowned 
with  glory  and  honor,"  I  pray  that  you  may 
see  him  this  moment  and  every  moment. 
Look  off  from  the  things  that  are  seen  to  him 
who  is  unseen.     Say  to  him  : 

Lord  Jesus,  make  thyself  to  me 
A  living,  bright  reality ! 
IMore  present  to  faith's  vision  keen 
Than  any  outward  object  seen, — 
More  dear,  more  intimately  nigh. 
Than  e'en  the  sweetest  earthly  tie. 


24  By  His  Life. 

As  you  see  him,  recognize  your  oneness  with 
him.  Say,  "My  beloved  is  mine,  and  I  am 
his ;  we  are  one.  He  is  my  Hfe.  Because  he 
Hves,  I  shall  live  also."  Be  sure  that  here  is 
the  very  heart  and  centre  of  all  joy  .and 
strength  and  success.  Everything  depends 
on  your  real  identification  w4th  Christ.  Above 
all  things,  accept  your  place  as  identified  with 
him.  Then  all  his  power  becomes  your 
power.  His  love  is  your  love.  His  thoughts 
are  your  thoughts.  His  life  is  your  life ;  and 
you  can  say  in  truth,  "Not  I,  but  Christ  liveth 
in  me." 

Because  this  is  the  heart  of  the  whole  mat- 
ter, it  is  just  at  this  point  the  devil  does  his 
utmost  to  foil  you.  He  tries  to  keep  you 
from  claiming  and  realizing  your  entire  one- 
ness with  Christ.  His  name  is  Devil ;  that  is, 
the  Accuser.  In  the  Revelation  he  is  called 
"the  accuser  of  our  brethren,  which  accused 
them  before  God  day  and  night."  You  may 
be  sure  he  has  been  accusing  you  to  injure 
you.  How  ?  By  declaring  in  your  heart  and 
mind  and  conscience  that  you  are  not  worthy 
to  be  one  with  Christ ;  that  you  are  not  ready 
to  be  one  with  Christ ;  that  it  would  be  pre- 
sumption in  you  to  place  yourself  in  the  posi- 
tion of  thorough  identification  with  Christ. 

He   does   not  make  these  accusations,   of 


By  His  Life.  25 

course,  to  affect  God.  He  knows  well  that 
God  understands  all  his  lies.  He  makes  the 
accusations  to  mislead  and  ruin  you.  When 
you  were  an  unconverted  sinner  and  were 
told  to  come  to  Jesus,  he  kept  saying  in  your 
heart  and  conscience  that  you  were  not  ready, 
you  were  not  worthy,  to  come.  He  accused 
you  day  and  night  before  God  to  hold  you 
back.  And  now  that  you  have  come  to  Jesus, 
his  object  is  to  hold  you  back  from  the  place 
of  joy  and  triumph — your  full  identification 
with  Christ.  He  keeps  saying  that  you  are  not 
ready,  you  are  not  worthy,  to  take  this  high 
place  of  entire  oneness  with  the  glorious 
King.  Now,  you  remember  how  you  es- 
caped the  snare  of  the  devil  at  the  time  you 
first  came  to  Jesus ;  are  you  willing  to  be 
foiled  by  the  accuser  now? 

Let  me  call  your  attention  here  to  a  fact 
which  is  most  cheering.  Jesus  gives  you  his 
Spirit  for  the  express  purpose  of  casting  the 
devil,  with  all  his  accusations,  out  of  your 
heart.  He  said  that  the  Spirit  of  truth,  when 
he  came  to  us,  would  convince  the  world  of 
judgment,  because  the  prince  of  this  world — 
that  is,  the  devil — is  judged.^  You  know 
that  a  wicked  accuser,  when  he  is  judged  in 
court,  is  cast  out  of  court.     So  Jesus  said, 

'  John  xvi.  II. 


26  By  His  Life. 

"Now  is  the  judg-ment  of  this  world;  now 
shall  the  prince  of  this  world  be  cast  out."^ 
And  so  we  read  in  the  Revelation,  "Now  is 
come  salvation,  and  strength,  and  the  king- 
dom of  our  God,  and  the  power  of  his  Christ ; 
for  the  accuser  of  our  brethren  is  cast  down, 
which  accused  them  before  our  God  day  and 
night. "^  Your  salvation  and  strength,  ob- 
serve, come  by  the  accuser  being  cast  down. 
As  long  as  you  allow  him  a  place  in  your 
heart,  to  charge  you  with  being  unworthy 
or  unready  to  take  the  place,  of  identification 
with  your  beloved  King,  you  cannot  have  full 
salvation.  But  the  Spirit  of  truth  casts  him 
out  by  showing  you  the  truth. 

This  truth  is  that  our  King  is  so  meek  and 
lowly  that  he  stoops  to  identify  himself  with 
the  humblest  one  among  us.  He  died  for 
all.  His  love  passes  knowledge.  By  every 
form  of  speech  he  bids  us  identify  ourselves 
with  him.  He  is  the  bread  of  life;  we  must 
feed  on  him.  The  blood  which  he  shed  for  us 
is  drink  indeed ;  we  must  all  drink  of  it.  He 
is  the  head ;  we  must  be  baptized  into  him  as 
members.  Yea,  we  are  members  of  his  body, 
of  his  flesh,  and  of  his  bones.  He  is  the 
vine ;  we  must  abide  in  him  as  branches.  He 
is  the  noble  bridegroom ;  we  must  forsake  all, 

'John  xii.  31.  "^Revelation  xii.  10. 


By  His  Life.  2y 

and  give  him  our  heart  and  hand  to  be  one 
with  him,  as  the  wife  is  one  with  the  husband. 
In  obeying  these  commandments,  we  must 
not  delay  in  order  to  make  ourselves  worthy. 
When  we  first  came  to  him,  we  did  not  wait 
till  we  were  worthy.    We  said : 

Just  as  I  am,  without  one  plea, 
But  that  thy  blood  was  shed  for  me. 
And  that  thou  bidst  me  come  to  thee, 
O  Lamb  of  God !    I  come. 

And  now  that  he  bids  us  take  the  place  of  one- 
ness with  himself,  let  us  say: 

Just  as  I  am ;    thy  love  unknown, 

Has  broken  every  barrier  down. 

Now  to  be  thine,  yea,  thine  alone, 

O  Lamb  of  God !  I  come. 

By  thy  death  thou  didst  reconcile  me  to  God ; 
now  much  more — O  blessed  word,  much 
more! — shall  I  be  saved  by  thy  life.  Thou 
hast  put  thy  Spirit  in  me.  Thou  hast  made 
me  one  with  thyself.  Now  I  am  unreserv- 
edly, wholly,  forever,  one  with  thee.  By  thy 
Spirit  seal  me  to  thyself,  that  every  moment 
I  may  say  truly.  Not  I,  but  thou  livest  in 
me. — Amen. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Place  of  Victory. 

I  ASSUME  now  that  you  have  trustfully, 
lovingly  identified  yourself  with  Christ.  Such 
being  your  relation  to  him,  you  hold  a  trium- 
phant position  as  regards  sin — that  dreadful 
evil,  that  abhorred  foe  of  your  life.  Let  us 
see  clearly  how  this  is. 

Since  you  are  one  with  him,  all  that  he 
ever  did  goes  to  your  benefit.  Much  was 
done  by  him  before  you  were  born;  but  the 
interval  of  time  does  not  afifect  your  interest ; 
all  is  yours.  A  man  in  an  Oriental  land 
plants  a  choice  olive  tree  in  his  garden.  Year 
after  year  he  fertilizes  and  cares  for  it.  Every 
year  adds  to  its  richness  and  strength.  In 
the  course  of  time  a  wild  olive  tree  springs 
up  in  the  wilderness.  The  man  takes  one  of 
its  branches  and  engrafts  it  on  his  good  tree. 
The  wild  branch  receives  the  richness  that 
has  been  stored  up  in  the  years  past.  It  has 
the  benefit  of  a  cultivation  done  before  its 
own  parent  trunk  rose  from  the  ground.  The 
history  of  the  good  tree  is  the  record  of  all 
that  goes  to  the  present  support  and  life  of 


By  His  Life.  29 

the  branch,  for  the  branch  and  the  tree  are 
one. 

The  prince  of  an  illustrious  house  is 
trained  with  a  view  to  his  ruling  the  kingdom 
over  which  his  father  has  reigned.  In  due 
time,  with  all  the  advantages  of  a  noble  edu- 
cation, he  ascends  the  throne.  By  his  valor 
and  wise  administration  he  extends  his  rule 
over  many  lands.  Meanwhile  there  is  born 
in  his  territories  a  young  girl  whom  he  deter- 
mines to  made  his  wife.  When  she  is  come 
of  age,  he  takes  her  to  be  his  bride.  In  do- 
ing this,  he  gives  her,  with  the  fulness  of  love, 
all  that  he  is  and  all  that  he  has.  His  past 
history  now  becomes  part  of  her  wealth.  His 
education,  his  cultured,  generous  heart,  the 
kingdom  which  he  inherited,  his  conquests, 
all  are  hers.  She  is  one  with  him,  and  all 
that  he  ever  did  brings  its  treasure  of  joy  to 
her  life. 

Just  so  you,  one  with  Christ,  have  as  your 
own  all  that  he  ever  did,  all  that  he  now  is, 
all  that  he  now  has.  Nay,  more  than  this; 
he  knew  you  and  your  whole  life  before  you 
were  born,  and  he  definitely  associated  you 
with  himself  in  all  his  acts.  He  bids  you  re- 
gard yourself  at  this  present  time  as  having 
been  with  him — united  with  him — in  every 
suffering  and  every  triumph  through  which 


30  By  His  Life. 

he  passed  on  earth.  He  puts  in  your  mouth 
the  words,  "I  have  been  crucified  with 
Christ,"^  "We  died  with  Christ,"^  ''We 
w^ere  buried  with  him,"^  "Were  also  raised 
with  him.''*  Is  not  this  a  wonderful 
union  !  Is  it  not  rich  in  honor  and  strength ! 
Now  accept  joyfully  all  that  this  carries  with 
it.  Reckon  yourself  as  having  been  associ- 
ated with  your  beloved  King  and  Head  in 
his  sorrows  and  in  his  victories.  Do  not  look 
on  the  history  of  his  marvelous  career  as 
something  apart  from  yourself.  He  identified 
you  with  himself  in  it.  The  history  is  yours. 
What  can  be  more  deeply  interesting  to 
you  ?  Let  us  look  at  the  matter  more  closely. 
You  and  I  each  say,  'T  have  been  crucified 
with  Christ."  Now,  if  I  have  been  crucified 
with  him,  I  may  be  sure  that  I  richly  de- 
served this  penalty  of  death.  And  so  it  was. 
There  is  another  statement  I  must  make  my 
own:  'Tn  me,  that  is,  in  my  flesh,  dwelleth 
no  good  thing.''^  This  is  the  utter  condem- 
nation of  myself;  and  self  is  the  flesh — the 
whole  man  as  I  am  apart  from  the  indwelling 
of  the  Spirit  of  Christ.  "That  which  is  born 
of  the  flesh,"   said  Jesus,   "is   flesh."     That 

1  Gal.  ii.  20,  R.  V.  '  Rom.  vi.  8,  R.  V. 

3  Rom.  vi.  4,  R.  V.  -^Col.  ii.  12,  R.  V. 

^Rom.  vii.  iS. 


By  His  Life.  31 

which  is  begotten  of  self  is  selfish.  That 
which  springs  from  him  in  whom  dwelleth 
no  good  thing,  must  be  no  good  thing.  So  I, 
apart  from  the  indwelling  of  Christ,  am  alto- 
gether vile.  All  my  thoughts  and  words  and 
w^orks,  apart  from  the  influence  of  the  Spirit 
of  Christ,  are  completely  evil.  I,  that  is,  the 
flesh,  deserve  the  sentence  of  death.  That 
sentence  was  passed  and  executed.  "Know- 
ing this,"  says  Paul,  "that  our  old  man  was 
crucifled  with  him."^ 

Notice  that  it  was  the  man  who  was  cruci- 
fied ;  not  merely  some  fault,  some  disposi- 
tion, some  trait,  some  tendency.  It  was  the 
old  man — the  old  self,  that  dated  back  to  the 
moment  when  I  began  my  existence.  On  me 
and  my  whole  being,  as  I  was  born  into  the 
world  without  the  indwelling  of  Christ,  on 
me  and  my  whole  being,  as  I  lived  in  the 
world  without  Christ  in  me,  was  the  sentence 
of  death  passed.  As  to  the  manner  in  which 
the  sentence  was  executed,  you  need  not  that 
I  tell  you.  My  Lord  took  my  old,  loathsome 
self  and  joined  it  to  himself.  When  he  died, 
I  died.     "I  have  been  crucified  with  Christ." 

You  will  surely  see  the  justice  of  this.  I, 
the  old  man,  the  flesh,  the  self,  by  whatever 

'Rom.  vi.  6,  R.  V. 


32  By  His  Life. 

name  I  am  called,  am  only  a  robber  and  a 
murderer.  God  made  me  for  himself,  that 
I  might  give  pleasure  to  him  by  loving  him 
and  doing  his  wise  commands.  Instead 
of  living  for  him,  I  lived  for  myself.  Instead 
of  doing  his  will,  I  did  my  own  will.  I  took 
what  belonged  to  him  and  used  it  for  self.  I 
robbed  God.  He  gave  me  many  rich  gifts, 
that  I  might  thank  him  with  a  grateful  heart 
and  use  them  for  him.  I  did  not  thank  him. 
I  took  the  gifts  as  though  they  were  mine  of 
right.  I  held  them  as  though  I  were  supreme. 
I  used  them  for  self.  Again  I  robbed  God. 
He  made  me  that  I  might  be  a  blessing  to 
others,  and  spread  life  among  those  around 
me.  By  my  self-life  I  was  a  curse  in  the 
world ;  I  brought  death  to  others.  I  am  a 
murderer. 

Deep  as  was  this  guilt,  there  was  still  a 
lower  depth.  When  God  set  before  me  his 
beloved  Son,  and  told  me  to  choose  between 
him  and  self,  I  chose  self.  I  had  read  with 
some  astonishment  the  history  of  that  scene 
in  the  judgment  hall  of  Pilate,  where  the 
Jewish  leaders  were  called  to  choose  between 
the  Christ  and  Barabbas — the  matchless  Son 
of  God  and  him  who  was  a  robber  and  a  mur- 
derer. It  seemed  amazing  that  they  should 
choose  the  red-handed  robber  and  crucifv  the 


By  His  Life.  33 

peerless  King.  Yet  this  is  just  what  I  did.  I 
chose  that  old  robber  and  murderer,  self, 
and  rejected  the  Christ.  I  was  unwilling  to 
deny  myself ;  1  denied  the  Prince  of  glory.  I 
refused  to  crucify  the  flesh  ;  I  crucified  the  be- 
loved Son  of  God. 

And  now  does  not  the  flesh,  the  self,  de- 
serve to  die?  A  thousand  times  over,  yes. 
Away  with  it !  Let  it  be  crucified !  Let  me 
join  in  its  destruction  !  And  I  do  thank  Jesus 
Christ,  our  Lord,  that  he  associated  me  with 
himself  in  putting  it  to  death.  I,  the  self, 
have  been  crucified  with  Christ.  I,  the  flesh, 
have  been  buried  with  him.  I,  the  old  man, 
have  been  laid  in  the  darkness  and  silence  of 
the  tomb.  There  let  that  old  life,  with  all  its 
corruption,  lie  and  rot. 

For  when  our  Lord  rose  with  us  from  the 
tomb,  he  left  behind  all  that  loathsome  bur- 
den of  sin.  He  died  to  sin  once  for  all.  He 
is  now  "without  sin,"  says  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews.  "He  hath  ceased  from  sin,"  says 
Peter.  He  is  done  with  it  forevermore.  Re- 
joicing in  his  freedom  from  the  cursed  load, 
he  lives  before  the  Father.  And  now  he  has 
raised  us  up,  that  we  may  be  associated  with 
him  in  the  victory  over  sin.  Read  carefully 
the  words  of  Paul :  "Our  old  man  was  cruci- 
fied with  him,  that  the  bodv  of  sin  mig^ht  be 


34  By  His  Life. 

done  away,  so  that  we  should  no  longer  be  in 
bondage  to  sin.  *  *  *  But  if  we  died 
with  Christ,  we  believe  that  we  shall  also  live 
with  him.  *  *  *  For  the  death  that  he 
died,  he  died  unto  sin  once ;  but  the  life  that 
he  liveth,  he  liveth  unto  God.  Even  so  reckon 
ye  also  yourselves  to  be  dead  unto  sin,  but 
alive  unto  God  in  Christ  Jesus.  *  *  *  Let 
not  sin  therefore  reign  in  your  mortal  body. 
*  "^  Present  yourselves  unto  God  as  alive 
from  the  dead,  and  your  members  as  instru- 
ments of  righteousness  unto  God.  For  sin 
shall  not  have  dominion  over  you."^  Could 
there  be  a  more  cheering  statement  of  your 
victorious  position  over  sin? 

But  I  hear  some  one  say,  "Ah  !  I  know  that 
Christ  died  as  my  legal  representative,  but  I 
was  not  really  with  him  at  his  death ;  I  was 
not  then  actually  united  with  him ;  yet  the 
language  used  here  seems  to  imply  that,  as  a 
matter  of  personal  experience,  I  have  been 
crucified,  buried  and  raised  up  with  him. 
How  is  this  ?"  The  question  is  one  that  read- 
ily suggests  itself,  and  I  think  the  answer  to 
it,"  found  in  the  word  of  God,  is  clear. 

It  is  a  blessed  truth  that  Christ,  as  our  rep- 
resentative in  law,  died  and  rose  for  us.  He 
"suffered  for  sins,  the  just  for  the  unjust." 
'  Rom.  vi.  6,  8,  10-14. 


By  His  Life.  35 

He  "was  delivered  for  our  offences,  and  was 
raised  again  for  our  justification."  We  can- 
not praise  God  enough  for  this.  And  yet  this 
is  far  from  being  the  whole  of  the  matter.  In 
his  death,  burial,  and  resurrection  our  Lord 
gave  us  an  example,  that  we  should  follow 
in  his  steps.  He  showed  us  the  course  of 
thought  and  purpose  which  we  ought  to  take. 
It  should  be  a  counterpart  of  the  course  which 
he  actually  took.  ''Forasmuch  as  Christ  suf- 
fered in  the  flesh,  arm  ye  yourselves  also  with 
the  same  mind." 

Did  he  give  himself  to  die  on  the  cross? 
With  each  one  of  us  there  must  be  the  delib- 
erate decision  that  self,  the  flesh,  shall  be 
given  up  to  death ;  that  the  old  man  shall  be 
nailed  to  the  cross.  'They  that  are  Christ's 
have  crucified  the  flesh."  Did  he  go  down  to 
the  grave?  With  us  there  must  be  a  full, 
honest  consent  that  the  old  man  be  buried. 
^'Knowing  that  our  old  man  was  crucified," 
we  heartily  acquiesce  in  his  being  laid  in  the 
tomb.  Did  Christ  rise  from  the  dead  and  as- 
cend to  the  Father,  forever  parting  company 
with  sin?  Then  we  must  gladly  accept  the 
position  in  the  heavenly  places,  to  be  one  with 
him  and  forever  separated  from  sin.  "Ye 
have  put  off  the  old  man  with  his  deeds,  and 
have  put  on  the  new  man."     "If  ye  then  be 


36  By  His  Life. 

risen  with  Christ,  seek  those  things  which  are 
above."  And  so  freely,  decisively,  in  our 
own  spiritual  career,  we  go  with  our  beloved 
Master  from  Calvary  to  the  throne. 

Does  this  mean  now  that  we  are  to  have  no 
more  conflicts  with  sin?  Far  from  it.  We 
shall  have  many  conflicts  with  sin.  Yet  the 
meaning  is  precious  and  jubilant.  It  is  that 
we  are  now  in  a  position  in  which  we  can  con- 
quer every  sin  that  shows  itself  in  our  life. 
We  now  have  the  attitude  towards  God  and 
towards  sin  which  insures  our  triumph.  "Sin 
shall  not  have  dominion  over  you." 

Beloved,  God  looks  on  the  heart.  He  de- 
mands that  we  shall  be  true,  honest  men  and 
w^omen.  He  requires  that  our  attitude  to- 
wards him  and  towards  sin  shall  be  sound. 
He  has  told  us  in  one  sentence  what  this  must 
be:  ''Reckon  ye  also  yourselves  to  be  dead 
unto  sin,  but  alive  unto  God  in  Christ  Jesus." 
To  reach  this  point  there  is  but  one  way.  It 
has  now  been  indicated  to  you.  I  assumed 
that  you  had  identified  yourself  with  Christ ; 
now^  go  with  him  to  the  cross,  and  from  the 
cross  to  the  heavenly  heights.  Remember  that 
it  was  in  the  power  of  the  Spirit  he  trod  this 
path.  He  "through  the  eternal  Spirit  offered 
himself  without  spot  to  God."  Remember  that 
he  now  gives  you  the  Spirit  that  you  may 


By  His  Life.  37 

offer  yourself  to  God.  It  was  'Svith  power 
according  to  the  Spirit  of  holiness"  he  was 
raised  from  the  dead.  So  the  Spirit  is  given 
yon,  with  "the  exceeding  greatness  of  his 
power,"  to  raise  you  up  with  Christ,  and 
make  you  sit  with  him  to-day  in  the  heavenly 
places.  Now,  in  the  power  of  the  Spirit  at 
once,  without  delay,  take  this  place  of  eleva- 
tion and  victory  with  him.  Take  it  and  hold 
it.  Against  every  attack,  in  the  face  of  all 
odds,  hold  it.  You  have  onlv  to  be  very  bold, 
rejoicing  in  Christ,  and  your  triumph  is  as- 
sured.    For  notice : 

I.  All  the  power  in  the  life  of  Christ  is 
pledged  for  your  success.  He  has  given  him- 
self— all  that  he  is — to  you  for  your  good. 
Do  you  appreciate  the  power  there  is  in  this? 
The  trouble  with  some  Christians  is  that  they 
have  great  faith  in  the  power  of  sin  in  them, 
and  weak  faith  in  the  power  of  the  Son  of 
God  to  subdue  that  sin.  Will  you  dishonor 
your  Lord  in  this  way?  Do  you  not  know 
that  all  power  has  been  given  to  him?  Have 
you  not  read  that  all  things  are  put  under  his 
feet  ?  Has  he  not  given  you  his  Spirit  to  keep 
you  one  with  himself  in  that  position  of  su- 
preme control?  Then,  no  matter  what  be  the 
sin  you  see  in  your  life,  be  assured  that  by 
the  power  of  his  Spirit  you  can  now  slay  it 


38  By  His  Life. 

and  put  it  under  your  feet.  "If  ye,  through  the 
Spirit,  do  mortify — put  to  death — the  deeds 
of  the  body,  ye  shall  live."^  ''Mortify — put 
to  death — therefore  your  members  which  are 
upon  the  earth ;  fornication,  uncleanness,  in- 
ordinate affection,  evil  concupiscence,  and 
covetousness,  which  is  idolatry."^ 

As  soon  as  you  see  one  of  this  horrid  brood 
in  your  heart,  advance  to  destroy  it.  Have 
no  truce  with  it.  Bring  forth  the  Achan, 
with  all  his  belongings,  out  of  the  camp,  and 
stone  him  to  death.  Is  it  some  refined,  courtly 
sin  ?  Do  not  spare  it.  Be  not  like  Saul,  who 
slew  some  but  kept  alive  the  best.  Lead  out 
that  royal  Agag,  who  walks  delicately,  and 
hew  him  to  pieces  before  the  Lord.  Let  noth- 
ing escape.  And  such  is  the  power  of  the 
Spirit  of  Christ  in  you,  that  you  will  surely 
be  able  to  say,  ''Now  thanks  be  unto  God, 
who  always  causeth  us  to  triumph  in 
Christ."^ 

2.  Remember  that  the  power  of  the  Spirit 
of  Christ  in  you  reaches  down  to  the  smallest 
affairs  of  your  every-day  life.  When  Paul 
said,  "I  can  do  all  things  through  Christ 
which  strengtheneth  me,"*  he  was  not  speak- 
ing of  some  great  missionary  enterprise ;  his 

'Rom.  viii.  13.  -Col.  iii.  5.  ^2  Cor.  ii.  14, 

■*Gal.  iv.  13. 


By  His  Life.  39 

thoughts  were  not  on  any  rare  act  of  heroic 
endurance.  He  was  speaking  of  those  com- 
mon matters  with  which  you  and  I  have  to 
deal  day  by  day.  His  subject  was  the  supply 
of  his  bodily  needs.  In  writing  to  his  friends 
at  Philippi,  he  acknowledged  their  kindness 
in  having  sent  him  some  things  to  meet  his 
wants.  Their  gifts  had  brought  him  joy,  he 
wrote,  but  the  joy  was  not  because  his  wants 
were  relieved.  He  had  learned  in  whatsoever 
state  he  was,  therewith  to  be  content.  He 
knew  how  to  suffer  the  humiliation  of  poverty 
and  how  to  enjoy  the  abundance  of  prosper- 
ity; how  to  be  hungry  and  how  to  be  full. 
"I  can  do  all  things  through  Christ  who 
strengtheneth  me."  In  the  least  of  practical 
matters,  the  victory  was  his. 

You  see,  then,  that  Christ  in  you  brings 
complete  success  in  the  temptations  of  your 
pecuniary  affairs  and  of  all  that  relates  to 
your  daily  bread.  In  the  petty  worries  of 
business,  in  the  doubtful  competitions  of 
trade,  in  the  chafings  of  a  year  of  want,  in 
the  enticements  to  luxurious  self-indulgence 
of  the  day  of  w^ealth,  ''every  where  and  in  all 
things,"  to  use  the  expression  of  Paul,  the 
victory  is  secure.  You  can  do  all  things 
through  Christ  w^ho  strengthens  you. 

Not  that  the  enticement  to  self-indulgence 


40  By  His  Life. 

or  the  allurement  of  some  form  of  the  flesh 
may  not  tempt  you  back  to  that  dreadful  con- 
dition, the  self -life — enjoying  your  own  ease, 
seeking  your  own  reputation,  satisfied  with 
your  own  wisdom,  serving  God  according  to 
your  own  will.  All  this  is  the  life  of  the 
flesh  as  contrasted  with  the  life  of  the  Spirit 
of  Christ.  Just  here  the  Galatian  Christians 
failed.  They  begafi  in  the  Spirit,  and  then 
went  back  to  the  flesh.  "O  foolish  Gala- 
tians,"  exclaimed  Paul,  "who  hath  bewitched 
you  that  you  should  not  obey  the  truth?" 
Would  you  escape  this  folly?  Remember 
that  you  have  nothing  so  much  to  dread,  noth- 
ing so  much  to  watch  against,  as  the  flesh, 
yourself — your  own  life  in  all  its  phases 
apart  from  Christ  in  you.  Hate  it.  Stand 
on  your  guard  against  it.  Look  up  to  him. 
Exult  in  him  as  your  life.  The  Spirit  is  given 
you  to  seal  you  to  him ;  that  is,  to  keep  you 
every  moment  in  the  closest,  most  intimate 
union  with  him,  so  that  you  ma)-  be  aloof 
from  the  flesh  and  utterly  dead  to  its  touch. 
Utterly  dead !  You  may  be  told  by  some 
Christians  that  you  are  to  regard  yourself  as 
"more  and  more  dying  unto  sin."  This  is  not 
what  God  says.  He  commands  you  to  reckon 
yourself  as  dead  unto  sin,  just  as  Christ  is 
dead  unto  it.    Take  the  word  as  God  gives  it 


By  His  Life.  41 

to  you.  You  have  perhaps  sung  the  Hues  of 
the  hymn, 

Then  am  I  dead  to  all  the  world, 
And  all  the  world  is  dead  to  me. 

You  meant  by  this  that  you  were  dead  to  the 
world  forever;  you  would  not  touch  it,  and 
it  should  not  touch  you.  So  now  reckon 
yourself  dead  to  every  form  of  sin.  When 
you  see  any  sin  in  your  life,  recognize  it  only 
as  an  alien  condemned  to  death;  just  as  Paul 
said,  "If  I  do  that  I  would  not,  it  is  no  more 
I  that  do  it."  Be  unwilling  even  for  a  mo- 
ment to  hold  a  passive  attitude  towards  it.  Do 
not  stand  waiting  to  die  more  and  more  to 
it.  Obey  God's  command.  In  the  power  of 
the  Spirit  put  it  to  death.  So  will  you  have 
life  indeed. 

An  army  is  made  invincible  by  the  advan- 
tages of  position,  prestige,  power.  So  with 
the  sacramental  host.  Our  position  is,  "dead 
unto  sin,  and  alive  unto  God  in  Jesus  Christ." 
Our  prestige  is,  "Thanks  be  unto  God  who 
always  causeth  us  to  triumph  in  Christ."  Our 
power  is,  "I  can  do  all  things  through  Christ 
who  strengtheneth  me."  Then  let  us  put  sin, 
the  world,  and  the  devil  under  our  feet. 


CHAPTER  V. 
The  True  Bridegroom. 

You  have  now  seen  the  method  by  which 
the  sin  in  your  Hfe  is  overcome.  You  admit 
Christ  to  dwell  in  your  heart.  The  light  of 
his  life  drives  out  the  darkness.  The  power 
of  his  life  puts  under  foot  the  foe.  The  bread 
of  his  life  relieves  the  weakness.  The  water 
of  his  life  quenches  the  thirst.  The  loving 
presence  of  his  life  supports  and  fills  you 
with  joy. 

"But,"you  ask,  ''what  about  the  command- 
ments? Are  they  not  good?  Is  not  disobe- 
dience to  them  sin  ?"  Undoubtedly,  yes.  The 
Word  of  God  abounds  in  commands.  Every- 
one of  them  is  holy  and  just  and  good ;  m  the 
keeping  of  them  there  is  great  reward.  Not 
to  obey  the  least  of  them,  in  heart  or  in  deed, 
is  sin.  These  commands  taken  together  are 
called  the  law.  And  now  I  have  to  state  to 
you  a  paradox,  which  you  will  find  in  God's 
w^ord.  In  your  oneness  with  Christ  you  obey 
the  law,  yet  you  are  dead  to  it ;  you  study  and 
meditate  on  the  law,  yet  you  keep  aloof  from 
it.     It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  under- 


By  His  Life.  43 

stand  this ;  yet  here  again,  I  would  say,  the 
matter  is  very  simple. 

Our  Lord,  when  he  was  on  earth,  obeyed 
every  command  of  God.  He  fulfilled  the  law. 
To  do  this  was  his  delight.  Love  is  the  ful- 
filling of  the  law.  The  whole  of  his  beauti- 
ful career  was  love  to  the  Father  and  love  to 
his  fellow-men.  Not  a  jot  or  tittle  of  the 
law  did  he  neglect,  or  fail  to  meet  perfectly. 
He  did  this  to  bless  us  in  three  ways :  First, 
as  our  legal  representative,  he  obeyed  that 
his  obedience  might  be  reckoned  as  ours.  In 
this  way  we  are  justified.  Second,  he  gave 
us  an  example.  In  him  we  see  the  Father, 
that  we  may  ''be  imitators  of  God  as  dear 
children" ;  in  him  we  see  also  the  model  of  a 
perfect  manhood.  Third,  he  lived  a  life  of 
obedience  to  the  law,  that  he  may  now  impart 
this  life  to  us,  that  we  may  indeed  be  imita- 
tors of  him.  This  he  does  by  the  Spirit. 
When  he  lives  in  you,  joyful  obedience  to  the 
law  is  your  life.  Love  to  the  Father  and  love 
to  men  fills  your  heart.  This  is  what  God 
means  by  his  promise,  "1  will  put  my  laws 
into  their  minds  and  write  them  on  their 
hearts."^  'T  will  put  my  Spirit  within  you, 
and  cause  you  to  walk  in  my  statutes,  and  ye 

'  Heb.  viii.  10. 


44  By  His  Life. 

shall  keep  my  judgments  and  do  them."^ 
Christ  in  you  means  obedience  to  law. 

But  apart  from  Christ  in  you  no  com- 
mand, no  precept,  given  in  the  Bible,  can  do 
you  the  least  good.  You  look  at  the  law ;  you 
see  that  it  is  pure  and  just;  you  resolve  to 
obey  it.  You  begin  your  efforts  to  live  ac- 
cording to  it.  You  try  ;  you  strive  ;  you  strug- 
gle ;  you  grasp  first  at  one  means,  then  at 
another.  The  result  is  always  the  same — dis- 
astrous failure.  The  good  that  you  would 
you  do  not ;  but  the  evil  which  you  would  not, 
that  you  do.  And  the  failure  is  exasperating. 
This  law,  which  vou  have  spent  your  energies 
in  trying  to  satisfy,  looks  down  on  you  with 
a  condemning  power.  It  seems  to  mock  your 
fruitless  efforts.  Discouragement  and  resent- 
ment rise  in  your  heart.  "The  command- 
ment which  was  ordained  to  life,"  you  find 
"to  be  unto  death" ;-  and  your  experience 
under  the  law  ends  in  wretchedness  and 
despair. 

God  knows  all  this,  and  he  brings  you  full 
relief.  He  removes  you  entirely  from  under 
the  law.  He  tells  you  to  have  nothing  to  do 
with  it.  He  bids  you  be  utterly  dead  to  it. 
He  puts  you  under  the  gracious  power  of  the 
life  of  his  Son,  and  this  is  to  be  your  place 
'  Ezek.  xxxvi.  27.  -Rom.  vii.  10. 


By  His  Life.  45 

exclusively.  Here  it  is  he  speaks  to  you  those 
words  of  comfort  and  high  assurance,  "Sin 
shall  not  have  dominion  over  you ;  for  ye  are 
not  under  the  law,  but  under  grace. "^  "Now 
we  are  delivered  from  the  law,  being  dead  to 
that  wherein  we  were  held."-  "If  ye  be  led 
by  the  Spirit,  ye  are  not  under  the  law."'^ 
'* Wherefore,  my  brethren,  ye  also  are  become 
dead  to  the  law  by  the  body  of  Christ.""^ 

Let  us  take  up  an  illustration  wdiich  is  sug- 
gested by  God's  word.  Here  is  a  woman 
married  to  a  man  who  is  altogether  just  and 
upright :  but  she  does  not  love  him.  She 
knows  that  she  ought  to  love  him ;  she  wishes 
she  could ;  but  she  cannot.  He  sees  her  fail- 
ures, and  draws  up  a  treatise  on  wifely  duties, 
setting  forth  many  rules  and  precepts  that 
should  shape  her  life  in  the  marital  bond.  He 
puts  it  in  her  hands  for  her  guidance.  As 
she  reads  it  her  conscience  assents  to  the  cor- 
rectness and  truth  of  every  word  ;  she  resolves 
that  she  will  try  to  live  by  it.  But  she  finds 
that  in  all  the  precepts  and  all  the  rules  there 
is  one  principle  that  she  must  obey ;  she  must 
love,  and  that  is  the  one  thing  she  cannot  do. 
She  argues  with  herself.  She  makes  resolu- 
tions.    She  summons  the  whole  strength  of 

'Rom.  vi.  15.       ^Rom.  vii.  6  (marg.).     ^Gal.  v.  4. 
■^Rom.  vii.  4. 


46  By  His  Life. 

her  will.  She  agonizes.  All  in  vain !  The 
spirit  of  the  treatise  draws  her  one  way ;  her 
heart  draws  her  the  opposite  way.  In  fact, 
this  treatise  has  not  only  not  wakened  her 
love;  it  has  deepened  her  aversion.  It  has 
made  her  conscious  that  her  husband  sees  her 
evil  heart;  he  searches  her  through  and 
through ;  he  sits  in  judgment  on  her;  he  con- 
demns her.  Her  animosity  is  aroused.  She 
dreads  him.  As  she  is  subject  to  him,  she 
cannot  get  rid  of  the  bond  that  holds  her :  yet 
it  is  intolerable.  In  her  weakness  and  de- 
spair she  cries  out,  "O  my  wretchedness ! 
Who  can  deliver  me  from  a  bondage  worse 
than  death  ?" 

This  is  the  picture  of  yourself  subject  to 
the  law,  and  trying  to  obey  it. 

But  the  husband  dies.  He  and  his  treatise 
are  buried  together.  The  woman  marries 
again.  Now  she  is  wedded  to  a  noble  hus- 
band, whose  tenderness  and  grace  draw  out 
all  the  love  of  her  heart.  She  rejoices  in  the 
light  of  his  smile.  Her  devotion  is  complete. 
How  delightful  the  service  that  gives  him 
pleasure !  How  precious  the  bond  that  holds 
her  to  him !  How  rich  the  hours  she  spends 
in  his  presence!  She  remembers  now  the 
buried  treatise.  All  its  rules  and  precepts  on 
wifely  duty  are  hers,  yet  how  dififerent !     In 


By  His  Life.  47 

the  first  marriage  the  precepts  were  written 
on  paper;  in  the  second  marriage  they  are 
inscribed  on  her  heart.  Then  it  was  impos- 
sible to  obey  them ;  now  obedience  to  them  is 
the  very  impulse  and  movement  of  her  life. 
Once  her  condition  was  worse  than  death; 
now  all  her  days  are  joy  and  peace. 

This  is  the  picture  of  yourself  separated 
from  the  law,  dead  to  it,  and  one  with  Jesus 
Christ  as  the  heavenly  bridegroom.  Listen 
to  the  word  of  God :  "The  woman  which  hath 
an  husband  is  bound  by  the  law  to  her  hus- 
band so  long  as  he  liveth ;  but  if  the  husband 
be  dead,  she  is  loosed  from  the  law  of  her 
husband  *  ^  ^^  Wherefore,  my  brethren, 
3^e  also  are  become  dead  to  the  law  by  the 
body  of  Christ ;  that  ye  should  be  married  to 
another,  even  to  him  who  is  raised  from  the 
dead,  that  we  should  bring  forth  fruit  unto 
God." 

Now  you  see  the  beauty  and  truth  of  the 
paradox — dead  to  the  law,  and  yet  obeying 
the  law.  The  law  could  give  you  no  life,  no 
strength,  no  joy.  You  are  as  dead  to  it  as 
the  woman  is  dead  to  the  husband  who  has 
slept  ten  years  in  his  grave.  But  you  are 
again  a  wife.  You  are  married  to  our  living 
Lord.  The  Song  of  songs  was  written  to 
celebrate  the  joys  of  this  union.    You  and  he 


48  By  His  Life. 

are  one  body.  His  life  has  become  your  life. 
He  said,  "I  delight  to  do  thy  will,  O  my 
God;  yea,  thy  law  is  within  my  heart."  So 
now  the  law  of  God  is  within  your  heart ;  you 
delight  to  do  his  will.  The  spirit  of  love 
reigns.  How  easy  obedience  has  become ! 
It  is  the  spontaneous  movement  of  your  life. 
When  you  were  subject  to  commands  and 
precepts.,  your  experience  was  sin  and  death. 
Now  you  ^o  forward  leaning  upon  the  Be- 
loved, who  pours  into  you  the  tide  of  his  own 
purity  and  joy,  and  rejoices  to  adorn  you  with 
all  the  jewels  of  his  grace.  This  is  life  in- 
deed. This  is  life  eternal.  Well  may  you 
say,  *T  thank  God  through  Jesus  Christ,  our 
Lord." 

And  so  you  now  readily  understand  the 
other  part  of  the  paradox — entirely  aloof 
from  the  law,  yet  daily  studying  and  medita- 
ting on  it.  The  law  is  a  mirror  of  the  life 
of  Christ.  Every  command  shows  you  the 
lines  of  some  beautiful  feature  of  his  charac- 
ter. The  more  deeply  you  understand  it,  the 
more  clearly  do  you  see  the  life  the  Master 
led — the  life  he  now  imparts  to  you.  Scan 
closely  every  command.  Take  in  all  that  it 
means.  Yet.  beware !  Reach  not  out  to- 
wards it  for  comfort  or  strength.  Expect  no 
help  from  it.     It  is  a  lifeless  thing.     It  bears 


By  His  Life.  49 

on  its  face  its  own  impotence.  It  shows  you 
Christ ;  it  brings  you  to  him.  It  can  do  no 
more. 

So  important  is  this  point  that  again  I  take 
an  illustration.  On  that  dark  day  which  shad- 
owed the  crucifixion  of  our  Lord,  one  of  the 
Galilsean  women  who  had  followed  him  in 
ministrations  of  love  finds  herself  separated 
from  him.  In  the  thronging  streets  of  the 
city  in  which  he  has  just  been  condemned, 
she  knows  not  which  way  to  turn.  She  is 
reproaching  herself  that  she  has  allowed 
some  object  to  draw  her  off  from  him  whom 
she  loves,  and  her  heart  aches  to  be  with  him 
again.  Suddenly  she  espies  a  Roman  soldier 
coming  out  of  the  judgment  hall  of  Pilate, 
bearing  something  in  his  hand.  As  he  has- 
tens by,  she  sees  that  the  thing  he  carries  is 
a  wooden  tablet,  and  with  a  quick  glance  she 
catches  the  words,  "This  is  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth, the  King." 

At  once  she  divines  the  meaning.  Press- 
ing after  the  soldier,  she  threads  the  narrow 
streets  and  passes  out  of  the  city  gate.  The 
inscription  borne  before  her  deepens  her  self- 
condemnation.  It  is  her  King  meek  and  lowly 
from  whom  she  is  separated.  It  was  the  King 
in  his  beauty  from  whom  she  turned  aside. 
But  now  she  has  reached  the  knoll  on  which 


50  By  His  Life. 

three  crosses  stand.  The  soldier  takes  a  ham- 
mer and  nail,  and  the  tablet  is  nailed  to  the 
central  cross.  No  longer  does  the  poor  soul 
cast  her  glances  on  the  bit  of  wood.  No 
longer  does  the  inscription  speak  reproach  to 
her  heart.     She  is  with  her  King. 

What  the  tablet  did  for  her  is  just  what 
every  command  of  God's  word  must  now  do 
for  you.  Be  wise,  Be  true,  Be  loving,  Be 
humble.  Be  strong — such  are  the  commands. 
Each  of  them  bears  on  its  face  the  inscription, 
''This  is  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  King."  Just 
such  is  he.  Are  you  self -condemned  in  view 
of  the  inscription  ?  Undoubtedly ;  but  do  not 
pause.  Follow  immediately  to  the  spot  where 
he  is  who  gave  his  life  for  us.  The  com- 
mandment was  intended  only  to  bring  you  to 
the  crucified  One.  He  is  the  end  of  the  law. 
As  soon  as  you  reach  him  you  are  done  with 
the  commandment.  It  ''was  against  us,"  to 
use  the  language  of  Paul  to  the  Colossians : 
i'i  "was  contrary  to  us,"  and  so  God,  he  says, 
"took  it  out  of  the  way,  nailing  it  to  his 
cross." 


CHAPTER  VI. 
Out  of  the  Wilderness.- 

The  law  out  of  the  way !  The  law  nailed 
to  the  cross !  Do  not  be  surprised  that  your 
attention  is  pressed  to  this  fact.  Thousands 
of  Christians  are  in  sorrow  to-day  because 
they  do  not  perceive  it.  They  are  trying  by 
prayer,  by  reading  the  Bible,  by  resolutions, 
by  doing  many  works,  to  keep  the  law  as  they 
see  that  it  was  kept  by  Christ.  They  are 
struggling  in  their  own  strength  to  be  good. 
Did  they  understand  their  deadness  to  the 
law  and  their  oneness  with  Christ,  they  might 
be  filled  with  power  and  joy.  The  late  Dr. 
John  W.  Pratt  declared  that,  if  all  Christians 
could  apprehend  the  truth  that  they  are  not 
under  law,  but  under  grace,  "the  whole  com- 
plexion of  the  church  would  be  changed." 

Trying  to  keep  the  law  is  the  experience 
of  the  wilderness.  Dead  to  the  law  and  one 
with  Christ  is  the  victorious  march  and  the 
rest  in  Canaan.  In  the  Seventh  Chapter  of 
Romans  we  have  the  wilderness  experience 
of  the  New  Testament.  The  key-words  of 
that  chapter  are  the  law  and  the  flesh.    They 


52  By  His  Life. 

occur  twenty-six  times.  Are  you  not  familiar 
with  the  painful  struggle,  the  almost  des- 
pairing effort,  presented  there?  "The  good 
that  I  would  I  do  not;  but  the  evil  which  I 
would  not,  that  I  do.  *  *  I  find  then  a  law, 
that,  when  I  would  do  good,  evil  is  present 
with  me.  *  *  Q  wretched  man  that  I  am ! 
Who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this 
death?"  Is  it  not  a  wilderness  indeed?  In 
the  Eighth  Chapter  of  Romans  we  have  the 
Canaan  experience  of  the  New  Testament. 
The  key-words  of  this  chapter  are  the  Spirit 
and  life.  They  occur  nineteen  times  in  the 
first  seventeen  verses.  ''The  Spirit  of  life  in 
Christ  Jesus"  makes  us  "more  than  con- 
c[uerors,"  and  gives  us  now  a  boundless  in- 
heritance of  peace  and  good. 

Are  you  willing  to  stay  in  the  wilderness? 
Can  you  consent  to  make  the  experience  of 
the  Seventh  of  Romans  the  limit  of  your  ex- 
perience? You  will  be  told  by  some  Chris- 
tians, perhaps  by  many,  that  there  is  no  get- 
ting beyond  the  Seventh  of  Romans  in  this 
v/orld.  Just  so  there  were  some  in  the  host 
of  Israel — yes,  many — who  declared  at  Ka- 
desh-Barnea  that  they  could  not  advance  be- 
yond the  wilderness.  Such  was  not  the 
thought  of  the  primitive  Christians — the 
Spirit-filled    men   and   women   who,    in   the 


By  His  Life.  53 

early  centuries,  went  forth  preaching  the  gos- 
pel to  every  creature.  They  saw  in  that  vivid 
description  of  struggle  and  failure  in  the 
Seventh  of  Romans  a  portraiture  of  the  man 
who  has  not  yet  learned  what  it  is  to  be  dead 
to  the  law.  "It  appears,"  says  Dr.  Charles 
Hodge,  "that  during  the  first  three  centuries 
the  fathers  were  generally  agreed  in  consid- 
ering the  passage,  as  descriptive  of  the  expe- 
rience of  one  yet  under  the  law."^  In  our 
day  not  a  few  Christians  are  waking  to  see 
the  passage  in  the  same  light.  The  late  Dr. 
John  A.  Broadus,  whose  praise  was  in  all  the 
churches,  wrote: 

"In  this  remarkable  passage  in  the  Seventh 
Chapter  of  Romans,  over  which  so  many  re- 
ligious controversies  have  been  waged,  and 
over  which — what  is  ten  thousand  times  bet- 
ter than  religious  controversies — have  bent 
many  troubled,  yet  trusting  hearts,  as  they 
found  themselves  exactly  portrayed — in  this 
passage  the  Apostle  first  points  out  what  is 
the  best  the  law  can  do  to  make  a  man  holy : 
what  is  the  best  that  a  man  can  do  in  the  way 
of  becoming  holy  by  just  trying  to  do  what 
is  right,  simply  trying  in  his  own  strength  to 

^  In  quoting  from  Dr.  Charles  Hodge  and  other 
authors,  I  need  hardly  say  that  a  quotation  does 
not  imply  concurrence  in  all  that  they  teach. 


54  By  His  Life. 

do  what  he  learns  from  God's  law  to  be  right. 
*     *     *     Here  is  the  Apostle's  answer." 

''There  has  been  a  good  deal  of  controversy 
between  what  are  called  Calvinists  and  what 
are  called  Arminians,  as  to  whether  this  pas- 
sage gives  the  experience  of  a  renewed  or  of 
an  unrenewed  man,  I  think  the  truth  is,  as 
some  recent  writers  have  been  showing,  that 
it  does  not  really  give  either,  but  gives  the 
experience  of  any  man,  either  renewed  or  un- 
renewed, who  is  looking  to  the  law  to  make 
him  holy.  Renewed  men  often  fall  back  on 
that."  To  fall  back  on  that,  let  me  say  in 
passing,  is  what  the  New  Testament  calls 
"falling  from  grace. "^ 

Now,  there  are  some  exoressions  in  the 
passage  spoken  of  which,  I  think,  belong  es- 
pecially to  the  renewed  man;  but,  without 
pausing  to  discuss  them,  allow  me  to  say  that 
I  venture  to  hope  the  day  is  approaching 
when  the  view  held  by  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians, and  stated  in  substance  by  Dr.  Broadus, 
will  be  generally  held  in  the  church.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  the  graphic  style  of  the 
passage  in  which  Paul  gives  his  experience, 
has  led  some  to  the  opinion  that  he  is  describ- 
ing his  condition  at  the  time  he  wrote.  The 
fact  is,  he  was  careful  to  mark  it  as  a  past 
'  Gal  V.  4. 


By  His  Life.  55 

experience.  In  the  fifth  and  sixth  verses  he 
says,  "For  when  zvc  zvere  in  the  flesh,  the 
sinful  passions,  which  were  by  the  law,  did 
work  in  our  in  embers  to  bring  forth  fruit  unto 
death.  But  nozv  zve  are  delivered  from  the 
law,  that  being  dead  wherein  zve  were  held; 
that  we  should  serve  in  newness  of  spirit,  and 
not  in  the  oldness  of  the  letter."  The  law  and 
the  flesh  with  him  were  things  of  the  past. 
Then  to  show  that  the  struggle  of  sinful  pas- 
sion in  the  man  who  is  under  the  law  is  no 
fault  of  the  law,  he  draws  the  vivid  picture 
of  himself  when  he  was  striving  in  the  flesh — 
that  is,  by  his  own  efforts — to  keep  the  law. 
The  effect  of  the  description  is  greatly  height- 
ened by  the  use  of  the  present  tense,  yet  it 
is  the  use  of  this  tense  which  has  misled  some 
readers.  We  might  illustrate  the  line  of 
thought  and  the  style  of  the  Apostle  by  the 
case  of  a  man  who  writes  to  show  that  blank- 
ets and  ice  will  not  cure  chills  and  fever. 
There  is  no  fault  to  be  found  with  blankets 
and  ice,  but  the  remedy  needed  is  quinine. 
The  man  writes : 

''When  I  was  a  soldier  in  the  swamps  below 
Richmond,  and  had  no  quinine,  I  was  racked 
with  fever  and  ague.  Now  that  I  have  qui- 
nine, I  am  entirely  free  from  such  attacks. 
Think  of  it!     Here  I  am  lying  in  a  tent.     A 


56  By  His  Life. 

chill  seizes  me.  I  pile  blankets  over  me,  but 
am  not  a  bit  warmer;  in  fact,  am  cold  as 
death.  The  fever  follows.  I  fairly  burn.  Ice 
is  brought,  but  it  does  no  good.  How  utterly 
wretched  I  am !  I  thank  God  for  the  discov- 
ery of  quinine." 

Here  no  one  thinks  for  a  moment  that  the 
writer  uses  the  present  tense  to  describe  his 
experience  at  the  time  of  writing.  He  has 
distinctly  marked  the  experience  as  belong- 
ing to  the  past.  So  Paul  writes  in  the  Seventh 
of  Romans.  It  was  in  the  day  when  he  strove 
to  keep  the  law  that  he  found  no  comfort.  It 
was  a  desert  through  which  he  passed  before 
he  reached  the  land  of  corn  and  wine  and  oil. 

In  the  best  Christian  life  on  earth  there  are 
three  distinct  stages.  Painted  on  the  histori- 
cal canvas  of  the  Old  Testament  they  are,  out 
of  Egypt ;  through  the  wilderness ;  the  vic- 
torious advance  and  rest  in  Canaan.  Drawn 
with  the  lines  of  spiritual  reality  which  mark 
the  New  Testament  they  are,  out  of  the  king- 
dom of  darkness ;  the  flesh  in  its  struggle  to 
keep  the  law ;  dead  to  the  law,  in  Christ  Jesus 
overcoming  all  sin.  The  experience  of  Paul 
in  the  wilderness  conflict,  we  may  be  sure, 
was  intense.  He  had  been  driven  out  to  that 
gloomy  desert  over  which  Mount  Sinai 
frowns  with  beetling  crags    (Gal.   i.    17,   iv. 


By  His  Life.  57 

25).  Here,  as  is  supposed  by  many,  the 
struggle  occurred.  After  this  came  the 
Canaan  triumph  and  rest. 

We  speak  of  rest.  It  is  not  the  rest  of  in- 
activity ;  not  the  rest  of  a  stick  or  a  stone.  It 
is  the  rest  of  joy,  the  rest  of  peace,  the  rest  of 
assured  triumph.  When  the  army  of  the 
nation  is  in  doubtful  conflict,  and  the  tide  of 
fearful  battle  surges  to  and  fro,  there  is  no 
rest.  When  the  army  moves  steadily  for- 
ward, victorious  at  every  point,  sure  of  sweep- 
ing the  field,  there  is  rest.  Just  so  there  is  a 
difference  among  Christians.  Some  carry  on 
a  conflict  that  is  strained,  often  marred  by  re- 
verses. Others  wage  a  conflict  that  is  full  of 
rest.     Let  us  see  how  this  is. 

At  the  foot  of  Mount  Sinai  there  was 
fought  a  battle.  Amalek  has  attacked  Israel. 
All  day  long  victory  hangs  in  the  balance. 
Now  Amalek  presses  forward  with  shouting, 
and  Israel  is  driven  back.  Then  Israel  rallies, 
there  is  a  new  burst  of  courage  and  purpose, 
and  Amalek  yields  ground.  On  the  mountain 
above,  the  hands  of  Moses  are  lifted  up  to 
God.  Israel  prevails.  But  how  wearisome! 
From  sheer  exhaustion  they  drop  down. 
Amalek  prevails.  Aaron  and  Hur  support 
Moses.  The  host  on  the  plain  below,  for 
whom  thev  intercede,  is  God's  host.     It  has 


58  By  His  Life. 

come  out  of  Egypt.  It  has  been  strength- 
ened by  the  manna  from  heaven.  It  has  been 
refreshed  by  the  water  out  of  the  rock.  It 
has  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire  for  its  guide. 
Yet  how  hard  and  stubborn  and  changeful 
this  fight !  even  though  victory  at  last  he  won. 
Such  is  the  battle  at  the  foot  of  Sinai ;  and 
such  is  the  conflict  which  the  New  Testa- 
ment describes  as  the  flesh  lusting  against 
the  Spirit  and  the  Spirit  against  the  flesh. 

You  have  come  out  of  the  world.  You 
hear  the  command  of  Christ,  Follow  me. 
Every  command  is  law.  You  rise  to  obey  the 
law.  On  one  side  are  the  forces  of  the 
Spirit — the  voice  of  the  Spirit  speaking  the 
command  of  Christ;  the  light  of  the  Spirit 
showing  the  example  of  Christ;  the  grace  of 
the  Spirit  bringing  some  taste  of  the  refresh- 
ment of  Christ.  On  the  other  side  are  the 
forces  of  the  flesh — the  selfish,  earthly  de- 
sires which  war  against  the  life  of  Christ. 
Sometimes  the  Spirit  prevails,  sometimes  the 
flesh.  You  pray;  your  friends  pray  for  you; 
yet,  again  and  again,  the  victory  seems  in 
suspense.  It  is  an  arduous,  a  wearing,  and 
wavering  struggle.  The  flesh  is  lusting 
against  the  Spirit  and  the  Spirit  against  the 
flesh,  that  you  may  not  do  the  things  that 
you  would.    You  do  not  perceive  where  your 


By  His  Life.  59 

difficulty  lies.  You  have  allowed  yourself  to 
remain  under  law.  "Walk  in  the  Spirit,  and 
ye  shall  not  fulfil  the  lust  of  the  flesh.  For 
the  flesh  lusteth  against  the  Spirit,  and  the 
Spirit  against  the  flesh :  and  these  are  con- 
trary the  one  to  the  other:  so  that  ye  may 
not  do  the  things  that  ye  would.  But  if  ye 
be  led  of  the  Spirit,  ye  are  not  under  the  law." 
But  there  is  another  battle.  No  longer  is 
Israel  at  the  foot  of  Sinai.  He  has  crossed 
the  Jordan,  the  river  of  death.  He  is  dead 
to  the  whole  territory  of  law,  and  Moses,  the 
personification  of  law,  is  dead  to  him.  At 
Gibeon  the  allied  armies  of  the  Canaanites 
are  massed  to  resist  his  progress.  He  ad- 
vances to  attack  at  daybreak.  His  strength  is 
no  longer  sustained  by  that  light  food,  the 
manna.  His  bold,  sinewy  movement  comes 
from  stronger  meat ;  he  has  eaten  of  the  corn 
of  Gilgal,  and  has  drunk  of  the  wine  of 
Engedi.  On  the  march,  his  refreshment  is 
drawn  no  longer  from  a  single  stream  flow- 
ing through  a  desert ;  the  land  he  is  on  is 
watered  with  the  copious  showers  from 
heaven.  Now  he  is  not  guided  by  a  pfllar  of 
cloud  and  fire;  at  the  head  of  the  column 
which  crossed  the  Jordan  is  the  ark,  which 
concealed,  while  it  contained,  the  law — the 
type  of  him  who  said,  ''I  delight  to  do  thy 


6o  By  His  Life. 

will,  O  my  God :  yea,  thy  law  is  within  my 
heart." 

Amid  these  new  and  inspiring  circum- 
stances he  throws  himself  against  the  confed- 
erated armies.  The  onset  is  irresistible.  At 
every  point  the  enemy  give  way.  The  de- 
feat becomes  a  rout.  The  pursuit  is  hot  to 
Beth-horon.-  The  day  is  not  long  enough  to 
gather  the  spoils  of  conquest,  and  the  sun 
stands  still  over  Gibeon,  and  the  moon  over 
the  valley  of  Ajalon.  The  royal  leaders  of 
the  enemy  are  all  taken ;  the  feet  of  the  cap- 
tains are  put  on  their  necks",  and  they  are 
slain.  It  has  been  a  day  of  uninterrupted 
triumph  and  complete  success  ;  and  such  a  day 
is  rest. 

And  now,  who  is  the  man  that  has  this 
joyous,  restful  life?  Who  is  the  man  that 
says,  "Thanks  be  unto  God  who  always 
causeth  us  to  triumph  in  Christ"?  Who  is 
the  man  that  exults  in  the  words,  'Tn  all 
these  things  we  are  more  than  conquerors 
through  him  that  loved  us"  ?  Who  is  the  man 
that  looks  out  over  the  whole  domain  of  work 
and  service  and  says,  "I  can  do  all  things 
through  Christ,  who  strengtheneth  me"? 
Who  is  the  man  that  says,  "We  who  have  be- 
lieved do  enter  into  rest"? 

It  is  the  man  who  learned,  perhaps  through 


By  His  Life.  6i 

many  failures,  that  he  himself  could  not  fol- 
low in  the  steps  of  Christ,  he  could  not  keep 
the  law.    His  own  wisdom,  his  own  strength, 
his  own  aspirations,  his  own  goodness,  have 
availed  nothing.     He  crucifies  them  all.     He 
crucifies  his  entire  self.     He  is  as  a  lifeless, 
helpless  thing,  waiting  to  be  filled  with  the 
fulness  of  the  life  of  Christ.     And  who  ever 
v/aited  thus  before  our  most  loving  and  com- 
passionate King  without  being  filled?     The 
Spirit  of  life  now  flows  into  him  with  a  joy- 
ous fulness.      What  a  change  in  the  whole 
man !    As  in  the  days  of  old  the  withered  and 
childless   Abram  became  the   fruitful   Abra- 
ham, as  the  lame  and  despairing  Jacob  be- 
came the  princely,  prevailing  Israel,  as  the 
envious,  struggling  Hoshea  of  the  wilderness 
became  the  Joshua  of  Canaan,   so  now  the 
humiliated  and  helpless  Simon,  son  of  Jonas, 
becomes  the  bold  and  triumphant  Peter,  the 
dejected  Saul  of  Arabia  becomes  the  victori- 
ous Paul,  the  leader  of  the  missionary  enter- 
prise for  the  world.  Here  we  have  the  Spirit- 
filled  man.  With  what  confidence  he  may  now 
advance  against  every  foe.    Every  promise  on 
the  pages  of    God's    word  is  made  to  him. 
Every  place  that  the  sole  of  his  foot  treads 
upon  is  his.     No  one  shall  be  able  to  stand 
before  him  all  the  days  of  his  life.     He  shall 
never  be  ashamed. 


62  By  His  Life. 

And  now  do  you  wonder  that  you  are  urged 
to  be  a  Spirit-filled  man?  Is  not  this  indeed 
the  glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed  God?  As 
the  love  of  the  Master  to  you  passes  knowl- 
edge, could  he  offer  you  anything  less  than 
the  success  which  is  here  held  before  you? 
At  Kadesh-Barnea  there  were  two  men  who 
preached  a  gospel  of  unqualified  success. 
Those  who  preached  a  gospel  of  discourage- 
ment were  against  them  five  to  one.  The 
vast  crowd  around  raised  a  cry  to  stone  them. 
Yet  Caleb  and  Joshua  stood,  faithful  found 
among  the  faithless.  They  held  fast  the 
words  of  unclouded  triumph  which  they  had 
received.  God  commended  them,  and  gave 
them  a  rich  reward. 

They  did  not  withdraw  from  their  brethren 
of  the  tribes.  They  recognized  the  truth  that 
they  were  members  of  a  body,  and  their  aim 
was  the  welfare  of  all  its  members.  They  suf- 
fered :  they  were  held  back  forty  years  by  the 
unbelief  of  the  host.  Yet  the  day  came  when 
their  testimony  was  acknowledged  by  every 
tribe.  They  entered  the  land  flowing  with 
milk  and  honey.  At  Ai  they  were  again  re- 
minded that  they  were  members  of  a  body, 
and  when  one  member  suffers  all  the  members 
suffer  with  it.  But  the  record  concerning 
Caleb    remained  steadfast,  that  he  followed 


By  His  Life.  63 

the  Lord  wholly.  He  who  bore  the  humblest 
name  in  Israel — Caleb,  the  dog, — won  the 
choicest  inheritance  of  Canaan,  and  all  around 
him  ''the  land  had  rest  from  war."^ 

The  same  gospel  of  success  which  was  of- 
fered the  men  of  Israel  at  Kadesh-Barnea  has 
been  offered  to  us.  "For  unto  us  was  the 
gospel  preached,"  says  the  inspired  writer, 
''as  well  as  unto  them."  "We  see  that  they 
could  not  enter  in  because  of  unbelief."  "Let 
us  give  diligence  therefore  to  enter  into  that 
rest,  lest  any  man  fall  after  the  same  example 
of  unbelief. "- 

'Josh.  xiv.  15,  15.     -Heb.  iii.,  iv. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Peffect  Man. 

We  HAVE  seen  that  there  is  only  one  per- 
fect man  in  the  universe — our  adorable 
Saviour  and  King.  We  have  seen,  too,  that 
he  sends  down  his  own  Spirit  of  life  to  fill 
his  willing  people.  And  now  I  wish  to  call 
your  attention  to  the  fact  that,  in  the  New 
Testament,  those  who  receive  this  fulness  of 
the  life  of  Christ  are  called  perfect.  In  that 
passage  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  in 
which  Paul  tells  us  that  Jesus  made  his  de- 
scent to  this  world  and  his  ascent  far  above 
all  heavens  for  the  purpose  of  filling  all 
things,  a  contrast  is  drawn  between  the  imma- 
ture Christians,  who  have  not  been  filled,  and 
the  mature  Christians  who  have  the  fulness 
of  Christ.  The  immature  are  described  as 
children,  tossed  to  and  fro,  and  carried  about 
with  every  wind  of  doctrine ;  the  mature  are 
described  as  those  who  have  attained,  through 
the  faith  and  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God, 
''unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the 
stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ."^ 
'  Ephes.  iv.  13. 


By  His  Life.  65 

"A  perfect  man"  is  the  expression  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  Yet  we  live  in  a  day  when  the 
word  perfection  seems  to  be  the  dread  of 
many  Christians.  In  fact,  this  consummate 
term  of  God's  vocabulary  has  been  changed 
by  some  into  a  stigma  of  reproach,  and  we 
hear  certain  Christians  branded  as  being  "per- 
fectionists." Unhappily,  it  does  not  seem  to 
occur  to  those  who  speak  in  this  way  that,  as 
God  uses  language,  there  is  some  reproach 
attached  to  imperfection.  It  is  important, 
therefore,  that  we  understand  clearly  what 
the  Scriptures  teach  on  this  point. 

To  Abraham,  the  father  of  all  who  believe, 
the  command  came,  with  its  assuring  pre- 
face, "I  am  the  Almighty  God ;  walk  before 
me,  and  be  thou  perfect."  Then  it  was  he 
received  the  rite  of  circumcision,  the  sign 
of  the  putting  away  of  all  sin.  Then  it  was 
his  name  was  changed  from  Abram  to  Abra- 
ham— the  father  of  a  great  multitude;  and 
then  the  promise  was  given  him,  'T  will  make 
thee  exceeding  fruitful."  Not  till  then  was 
the  son  of  promise  born  to  him.  It  may  be 
that  not  a  few  Christian  workers,  in  the  home 
land  and  in  the  foreign  field,  have  found 
their  work  unfruitful  because  they  have  not 
accepted  the  command  of  God  to  be  perfect, 
and  have  not  obeyed  in  spiritual  reality  as 
Abraham  obeyed  in  type. 


(^  By  His  Life. 

When  the  heart-searching,  yet  most  blessed, 
words  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  were 
spoken  by  our  Lord,  he  said  to  his  disciples, 
"Be  ye  therefore  perfect,  even  as  your  Father 
which  is  in  heaven  is  perfect."  The  perfec- 
tion of  our  Heavenly  Father,  of  which  the 
Saviour  spoke,  is  his  mercy  and  kindness  to 
the  ungrateful  and  the  evil.  There  is  one 
way,  and  but  one,  in  which  we  may  have  this 
perfection;  it  is  to  be  filled  with  the  Spirit 
of  the  Father,  sent  down  to  us  through  the 
Son. 

Our  Lord  made  a  definite  offer  of  perfec- 
tion to  the  young  ruler.  He  said,  "If  thou 
wilt  be  perfect,  go  and  sell  that  thou  hast,  and 
give  to  the  poor,  and  thou  slialt  have  treasure 
in  heaven :  and  come,  follow  me."  Had  the 
young  man  been  willing  to  part  with  all 
that  he  held  dearest,  he  would  have  obtained 
this  pearl  of  great  price. 

Many  of  the  primitive  Christians  had  the 
fulness  of  the  vSpirit  of  Christ,  and  were  reck- 
oned as  perfect.  Yet  Paul,  when  he  wrote 
to  the  Corinthians,  was  compelled  to  say, 
*'We  speak  wisdom  amono^  them  that  are  per- 
fect. *  ^  =!=  And  I,  brethren,  could  not 
speak  unto  you  as  unto  spiritual,  but  as  unto 
carnal,  even  as  unto  babes  in  Christ."  In  the 
church  at  Corinth  there  were  men  of  learning, 


By  His  Life.  67 

gifted  in  speech — "enriched  in  all  utterance 
and  in  all  knowledge."  They  had  received 
the  grace  of  God,  and  were  truly  his  children. 
But  they  lacked  the  fulness  of  the  Spirit,  and 
allowed  envy  and  strife  to  dwell  in  their 
hearts.  It  is  impossible  for  such  men  to  ap- 
prehend the  highest  truth  of  a  holy  life  on 
earth.  Paul  could  speak  this  truth  to  the  per- 
fect, but  not  to  them.  As  to  spiritual  intelli- 
gence and  spiritual  power,  they  were  babes. 

It  was,  therefore,  the  recognized  object  of 
the  true  spiritual  leaders  in  the  primitive 
church  to  have  all  the  members  of  the  church 
perfect.  Epaphras  was  "s.  faithful  minister 
of  Christ"  to  the  church  at  Colosse,  and  he 
was  "always  laboring  fervently"  for  them  in 
prayers,  that  they  might  "stand  perfect  and 
complete  in  all  the  will  of  God."  Paul  de- 
clared that  this  was  the  great  object  of  his 
own  ministry:  "Christ  in  you,  the  hope  of 
glory :  whom  we  preach,  warning  every  man, 
and  teaching  every  man  in  all  wisdom ;  that 
we  may  present  every  man  perfect  in  Christ 
Jesus."  He  rebuked  the  Hebrew  Christians 
because  he  had  to  be  repeating  to  them  the 
elementary  truths  of  the  gospel.  They  were 
not  able  to  receive  and  digest  the  "strong 
meat  which,"  he  said,  "belongeth  to  them  that 
are  perfect."^  "Therefore,"  he  added,  "leav- 
^  Heb.  V.  14,  marg. 


68  By  His  Life. 

ing  the  first  principles  of  the  doctrine  of 
Christ,  let  us  go  unto  perfection." 

The  Master  himself,  as  he  looked  down 
from  heaven,  rebuked  the  messenger  of  the 
church  in  Sardis.  'Tor  I  have  not  found  thy 
works,"  he  said,  "perfect  before  God."  The 
word  perfect  in  this  sentence  is  a  translation 
of  the  Greek  w^ord  filled.  The  works  of  the 
messenger  did  not  fulfil  the  righteousness  of 
God,  for  they  were  not  filled  with  the  Spirit 
of  Christ. 

With  such  declarations  as  these  on  the 
pages  of  God's  word — and  we  might  quote 
more  to  the  same  eft'ect — he  is  a  rash  man 
who  neglects  the  command  of  God  to  be  per- 
fect, or  is  careless  whether  he  be  found  in  the 
ranks  of  those  who,  in  the  New  Testament, 
are  called  perfect.  It  is  needless  to  say,  after 
the  statements  made  on  the  preceding  pages, 
that  the  perfection  presented  to  us  here  is  no 
perfection  of  our  own.  Our  own  life  was  a 
failure — worse  than  a  failure;  it  had  to  be 
crucified.  We  ourselves  are  nothing;  we 
must  ever  remain  nothing.  All  that  we  have 
of  wisdom  or  holiness  or  power  is  Christ  in 
us.  He  alone  is  our  perfection.  Here  it  is, 
in  the  profoundest  degree,  we  veil  our  faces 
and  say,  "Not  unto  us,  O  Lord,  not  unto  us, 
but  unto  thy  name  give  glory."     It  is  impos- 


By  His  Life.  69 

sible  that  the  perfection  of  the  child  of  God  be 
found  save  in  company  with  the  deepest  hu- 
miHty  and  self-abnegation. 

Yet  it  is  a  perfection  constantly  reaching 
out  to  a  higher  and  nobler  state.  It  is  a  per- 
fection of  enlarging  capacity.  It  is  a  perfec- 
tion which  is  changing  from  glory  to  glory. 
It  presses  forward  to  better  things.  The  stir- 
ring figure  sketched  by  Paul,  when  he  speaks 
of  himself  and  those  in  the  church  at  Philippi 
who  were  perfect,  is  that  of  the  racer  in  the 
games.  He  is  making  a  splendid  run.  Every 
movement  is  perfect.  Yet  see  him.  His  eye 
is  fixed  on  the  goal.  There  is  the  supreme 
prize — the  resurrection  from  the  dead  at  the 
call  of  God.  There  he  is  to  be  perfected  with 
a  perfection  thus  far  unknown.  In  view  of  it 
he  counts  himself  neither  to  have  attained  nor 
to  be  perfect.  He  is  unmindful  of  the  course 
already  passed  over.  He  forgets  what  is  be- 
hind ;  he  reaches  forth  unto  that  which  is  be- 
fore. He  presses  towards  the  glorious  end. 
''Let  us  therefore,  as  many  as  be  perfect,"  he 
adds,  ''be  thus  minded." 

Perfect  and  yet  to  be  perfected :  in  this  he 
followed  the  Master.  Filled  with  the  Spirit 
of  the  Father,  Jesus  was  perfect ;  yet  he  looked 
forward  to  the  day  when  he  should  be  per- 
fected at  his  resurrection.    "Behold,"  he  said, 


70  By  His  Life. 

"I  cast  out  devils,  and  I  do  cures  to-day  and 
to-morrow,  and  the  third  day  I  shall  be  per- 
fected." He,  too,  had  an  enlarging  capacity, 
and  was  changed  from  glory  to  glory.  The 
Captain  of  our  salvation  w^as  made  ''perfect 
through  sufferings."^  "Though  he  were  a 
son,  yet  learned  he  obedience  by  the  things 
which  he  suffered ;  and  being  made  perfect, 
he  became  the  author  of  eternal  salvation."^ 
His  whole  life  on  earth  was  a  growth,  a  pro- 
gress from  one  stage  of  perfection  to  another. 
Just  so  he  desires  his  people  to  grow  in 
grace.  The  branch  on  the  vine,  filled  in 
every  fibre  with  life  and  sap,  as  it  first  puts 
forth  its  tender  leaves,  is  a  perfect  branch. 
Soon  the  fragrant  bloom  appears,  shedding 
around  the  "delicious  proof  of  the  blessing 
of  God.  The  branch  is  more  perfect  now 
than  before.  The  days  go  on :  heavy  clusters 
of  fruit  hang  in  the  air,  not  ready  to  be  gath- 
ered, yet  beautiful  in  shape,  with  every  emer- 
ald globe  distended  by  the  store  drawn  from 
the  vine.  We  see  that  the  branch  is  still  more 
perfect.  At  last  the  sun  has  empurpled  all 
the  weighted  clusters,  and  the  kindling  juices 
are  ripe  for  the  use  of  man.  As  the  vine- 
dresser looks  on  the  branch,  with  the  highest 
satisfaction    he   pronounces    it   perfect.      Its 

'  Heb.  ii.  lo.  -Heb.  v.  8,  9. 


By  His  Life.  71 

treasures  are  gathered  in  and  laid  at  the  mas- 
ter's feet.  Perfect  at  every  stage,  because 
filled  with  the  life  of  the  vine.  "In  that  day 
sing  ye  unto  her,  A  vineyard  of  red  wine.  I 
the  Lord  do  keep  it ;  I  will  water  it  every 
moment :  lest  any  hurt  it,  I  will  keep  it  night 
and  day."^ 

This  perfection,  too,  not  only  reaches  up  to 
a  higher  state,  it  reaches  down,  in  pity  and 
love,  to  the  poorest  of  the  earth.  "If  thou 
wilt  be  perfect,  go  and  sell  that  thou  hast,  and 
give  to  the  poor."  It  holds  back  nothing  from 
the  destitute.  Though  it  be  rich,  it  becomes 
poor  for  the  sake  of  others ;  and  its  record  in 
the  world  is,  ''poor,  yet  making  many  rich." 
In  pouring  out  its  streams  of  beneficence  to 
men,  it  makes  no  exceptions.  It  blesses  those 
who  curse ;  it  does  good  to  those  who  hate ;  it 
prays  for  those  who  persecute.  This  is  the 
''perfect  love"  that  "casteth  out  fear."  What 
a  wonderful  effect !  It  casteth  out  fear.  "It 
banishes  all  doubts  as  to  our  present  ac- 
ceptance with  God,  dispels  all  anxiety  con- 
cerning the  future,  relieves  us  of  all  fear  of 
the  world,  and  fills  us  with  peace  and  joy." 
The  disciple  that  leaned  upon  the  bosom  of 
Jesus  has  told  us,  "He  that  feareth  is  not  made 
perfect  in  love."  And  is  this  perfection  in 
'Isaiah  xxvii.  2,  3. 


72  By  His  Life. 

love,  this  lily  of  the  lowly  life,  at  all  a  plant 
of  our  own  heart?  Again  we  say,  far  from 
it.  "If  we  love  one  another,  God  dwelleth  in 
ns,  and  his  love  is  perfected  in  us."  Perfect 
love  is  simply  God  dwelling  in  you ;  it  is  the 
fulness  of  Christ  in  you,  the  hope  of  glory. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
An  Insoluble  Question. 

When  you  accept  the  command  of  God  to 
be  perfect,  and  trust  in  his  power  to  work  this 
grace  in  you,  you  may  expect  some  one  to  ask 
you  whether  you  believe  in  "sinless  perfec- 
tion." The  question  put  to  you  is,  whether 
the  man  who  has  the  fulness  of  Christ,  the 
Spirit-filled  man,  is  ever  sinless  in  this  world. 
We  may  be  sure  that  the  Bible  teaches  us 
what  we  shall  say  to  this.  Let  us  listen  to  the 
word  that  comes  from  the  mouth  of  God. 

And  first,  he  tells  us  that  he  alone  searches 
and  knows  the  heart  of  man.  "The  heaven 
for  height,  and  the  earth  for  depth,  and  the 
heart  of  kings  is  unsearchable."  "Who  can 
understand  his  errors?"  "I  the  Lord  search 
the  heart,  I  try  the  reins."  Only  in  the  divine 
crucible  can  the  lowest  analysis  be  made  of 
that  which  is  precious  in  our  lives  and  that 
which  is  dross.  "The  fining  pot  is  for  silver, 
and  the  furnace  for  gold :  but  the  Lord  trieth 
the  hearts."  It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  no 
man  of  good  judgment  will  undertake  to 
render  a  verdict  on  his  own  life.    The  Apostle 


74  By  His  Life. 

Paul  could  declare  openly  to  his  fellow  Chris- 
tians the  witness  of  his  conscience  as  to  the 
blamelessness  of  his  own  life;  but  there  he 
paused.  ''I  judge  not  myself,"  he  said;  "he 
that  judgeth  me  is  the  Lord."  Let  us  be  imi- 
tators of  Paul. 

In  the  next  place,  we  observe  that  God 
wishes  us  to  set  no  limit  to  what  he  may  do  in 
us  by  the  power  of  his  Spirit.  He  says,  ''T 
am  the  Almighty  God ;  walk  before  me,  and 
be  thou  perfect."  Because  the  "exceeding 
greatness  of  his  power"  is  pledged  for  our 
good,  his  command  to  us,  Be  perfect,  is  just. 
"Give  what  thou  commandest,"  said  Augus- 
tine, "and  then  command  what  thou  wilt." 
What  he  gives  us  is  "according  to  the  work- 
ing of  his  mighty  power,  which  he  wrought  in 
Christ,  when  he  raised  him  from  the  dead." 
In  the  magnificent  prayer  which  Paul  offered 
for  the  Christians  at  Ephesus,  he  seems  to  ex- 
haust the  resources  of  speech  in  summing 
up  the  fulness  of  grace  which  he  desires  them 
to  possess  in  their  hearts.  "Strengthened  with 
might  by  his  Spirit  in  the  inner  man,"  "Christ 
may  dwell  in  your  hearts  by  faith,"  "able  to 
comprehend  with  all  saints  what  is  the  breadth 
and  length  and  depth  and  height,"  "filled  unto 
all  the  fulness  of  God" — such  are  some  of  the 
expressions  he  uses.     Can  words  compass  a 


By  His  Life.  75 

greater  measure  of  sanctification  than  is  stated 
here  ?  Can  any  limit  be  set  to  the  grace  which 
this  language  unfolds  ?  Well,  men  sometimes 
show  a  curious  art  in  limiting  what  God  does 
not  limit ;  so  Paul  proceeds  to  sweep  away  all 
conceivable  metes  and  bounds.  He  tells  the 
Ephesians  that  God  is  able  to  do  not  only 
w^hat  he  prays  for,  but  even  more.  ''Unto  him 
that  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly  above 
all  that  we  ask  or  think,  according  to  the 
power  that  worketh  in  us,  unto  him  be  glory 
in  the  church  by  Christ  Jesus." 

The  man  who  limits  what  God  is  willing 
or  is  able  to  do  in  him  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
dishonors  God.  "They  limited  the  Holy  One 
of  Israel" — this  is  what  shut  Israel  out  from 
the  triumphs  and  possessions  of  Canaan  and 
caused  the  multitude  to  fall  in  the  wilderness.^ 
This  it  is  that  now  holds  back  not  a  few  of 
the  people  of  Christ  from  a  career  of  joy  and 
success.  Of  course,  if  God  has  set  a  limit 
anywhere,  we  are  bound,  with  all  humility, 
to  respect  it.  But  what  limit  has  he  set  to 
our  ability  to  do  the  things  that  give  pleasure 
to  him?  Which  is  the  first  and  great  com- 
mandment? Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy 
God  with  all  thy  heart  and  with  all  thy  soul. 
And  what  is  the  promise  which  he  gives  in  re- 

'  Psalm  Ixxviii.  41. 


76  By  His  Life. 

gard  to  it?  "The  Lord  thy  God  will  circum- 
cise thine  heart  and  the  heart  of  thy  seed 
to  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thine  heart 
and  with  all  thy  soul."  Is  there  any  limita- 
tion here  ? 

Nay,  the  constant  effort  of  our  Lord  Jesus, 
when  he  moved  among  men,  was  to  persuade 
them  not  to  limit  God.  'Tf  thou  canst  believe, 
all.  things  are  possible  to  him  that  believeth.  ' 
"If  ye  have  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed, 
nothing  shall  be  impossible  unto  you."  "Who- 
soever shall  believe  that  those  things  which 
he  saith  shall  come  to  pass,  he  shall  have 
whatsoever  he  saith."  "Whatsoever  ye  shall 
ask  in  my  name,  that  will  I  do."  "Be  it  unto 
thee  even  as  thou  wilt."  If  any  man  wishes 
to  make  the  most  of  his  life  on  earth,  he  must 
practice  a  sublime  freedom;  he  must  put  no 
limit  to  what  God  will  do  for  him  and  through 
him,  according  to  the  power  that  worketh  in 
him. 

"Ah!"  says  some  one,  "that  is  all  very  true 
about  God ;  we  must  not  limit  him ;  but  we 
have  to  do  our  part  in  this  matter.  Our  part 
is  to  accept  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  and  here 
there  must  be  more  or  less  of  failure,  as  our 
acceptance  is  imperfect."  And  pray,  I  ask, 
who  gives  you  power  to  accept  at  all?  Was 
not  your  hand  withered  and  your  whole  arm 


By  His  Life.  yj 

palsied?  Who  bid  you  stretch  it  forth,  and 
gave  you  power  to  obey  the  command  ?  And 
if  you  cannot  stretch  it  forth  to  accept  the 
smallest  thing  without  the  gift  of  power  from 
Christ,  do  you  mean  that  he  cannot  or  will 
not  give  you  the  power  to  stretch  it  forth  to 
the  full,  and  to  open  your  hand  wide  to  re- 
ceive all  that  he  has  to  bestow?  And  when 
you  say  that  your  acceptance  must  be  feeble 
or  imxperfect,  do  you  not  see  that  this  is  only  a 
more  subtle  way  of  limiting  the  gift  of  God 
and  the  power  of  his  grace? 

We  said  that  faith  is  the  empty  hand 
stretched  out  to  receive  the  gift  of  God.  We 
''receive  the  promise  of  the  Spirit  through 
faith" ;  we  are  "sanctified  by  faith" ;  Christ 
dwells  in  our  ''hearts  by  faith";  our  hearts 
are  "cleansed  by  faith";  "we  walk  by  faith," 
and  "by  faith"  we  "stand."  And  do  you  not 
know  that  this  faith  is  the  gift  of  Christ? 
"Saved  through  faith,"  says  Paul,  "and  that 
not  of  yourselves,  it  is  the  gift  of  God." 
Will  you  limit  God's  gift?  Jesus  is  "the 
author  and  finisher  (perfecter,  Greek)  of 
our  faith."  Will  you  limit  the  finish  or  per- 
fection God  gives  to  his  own  work?  When 
Stephen  is  said  to  have  been  full  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  he  is  said  also  to  have  been  "full  of 
faith."     Surclv  Jesus  took  a  broad  view  of 


78  By  His  Life. 

things,  and  do  you  think  there  was  anything 
lacking  in  the  extent  of  faith  when  he  said, 
"O  woman,  great  is  thy  faith"? 

Of  course  every  creature  of  God,  whether 
in  heaven  or  on  earth,  is  a  limited  being.  The 
question  is  not  at  all  as  to  our  limited  capac- 
ity. The  question  is,  whether  our  capacity 
being  finite,  there  is  any  limit  to  our  being 
filled  to  the  utmost  of  our  capacity.  And 
here  we  declare  that  there  is  no  limit.  The 
tabernacle  set  up  by  Moses  was  a  finite 
structure,  but  there  was  no  limit  to  its  being 
filled  with  the  glory  of  God.  The  cloud  which 
made  the  earth  shine  with  brightness  covered 
it,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  filled  it.^  The 
earthenware  jar  is  limited,  but  when  it  is 
plunged  in  the  vast  ocean  there  is  no  limit  to 
its  being  full.  It  is  in  the  ocean,  and  the 
ocean  is  in  it.  And  so,  we  say,  when  a  man 
abides  in  Christ  and  Christ  in  him,  there  is 
no  limit  to  his  being  filled.  This  is  "the  ful- 
ness of  the  blessing  of  Christ."  This  is  being 
"filled  unto  all  the  fulness  of  God." 

When  a  man  is  thus  filled  with  the  Spirit 
of  Christ,  it  seems  a  matter  of  course  that  he 
is  conscious  of  being  filled  with  the  love,  the 
purity,  the  humility,  the  courage  and  truth 
of  Christ.  His  conscience — for  so  our  Eng- 
^  Ex.  xl.  34,  35;   Ezek.  xliii.  2. 


By  His  Life.  79 

lish  Bible  translate  the  Greek  word  for  con- 
sciousness— is  pure.  His  heart,  to  use  the 
expression  of  the  Apostle  John,  condemns 
him  not.  Look  at  that  man  who  was  once  a 
blasphemer  and  a  persecutor,  the  chief  of  sin- 
ners, now  washed  and  filled  with  the  Spirit. 
See  with  wdiat  variety  of  expression  he  as- 
serts the  purity  of  his  conscience  and  life. 
"Our  rejoicing  is  this,  the  testimony  of  our 
conscience,  that  in  holiness  and  sincerity  of 
God  we  behaved  ourselves  in  the  world." 
"I  have  lived  in  all  good  conscience  before 
God  until  this  day."  "1  am  conscious  of 
nothing  against  myself."^  "Ye  are  wit- 
nesses, and  God  also,  how  holily,  and  justly 
and  unblameably  we  behaved  ourselves 
among  you  that  believe."  "Not  I,  but  Christ 
liveth  in  me."     "For  me  to  live  is  Christ." 

See  how  he  sends  down  through  the  centu- 
ries the  summons  to  us  all  to  imitate  him. 
"Brethren,  be  ye  imitators  of  me,  and  mark 
them  which  so  walk  as  ye  have  us  for  an 
ensample."  His  commendation  of  the  Thes- 
salonians  was,  "Ye  became  imitators  of  us  and 
of  the  Lord."  In  writing  to  the  Philippians 
he  sums  up  everything  true,  everything  hon- 
orable, everything  just,  everything  pure, 
everything  lovely,  everything  of  good  report, 
'  Compare  R.  V.  and  Greek  Test,  on  i  Cor.  iv,  4. 


8o  By  His  Life. 

whatever  there  be  that  is  virtuous,  whatever 
worthy  of  praise,  and  then  gives  two  com- 
mands— one  in  the  abstract,  ''think  on  these 
things" ;  the  other  in  the  concrete,  ''Those 
things  which  ye  have  both  learned  and  re- 
ceived, and  heard,  and  seen  in  me,  do."  The 
whole  catalogue  of  graces  was  exemplified  in 
him.  After  the  labors  of  three  years  among 
the  Ephesians,  he  said  to  the  elders  of  the 
church,  "In  all  things  I  gave  you  an  exam- 
ple." After  a  long  and  intimate  association 
with  Timothy,  the  aged  apostle,  in  the  closing 
days  of  his  life,  wrote  to  his  young  brother 
in  words  of  praise.  "Thou  didst  follow  my 
teaching,  conduct,  purpose,  faith,  long  suffer- 
ing, patience."  His  fellow-worker  had  seen 
and  copied  a  model  life. 

Here  then  we  have  the  pattern  of  a  Spirit- 
filled  man.  With  a  pure  conscience,  he  calls 
upon  God  and  men  to  witness  that  his  life 
h  holy  and  just  and  unblameable:  for  him  to 
live  in  Christ ;  yet  he  refrains  from  pronounc- 
ing the  final  verdict  on  himself.  Do  you 
admire  the  prudence  with  which  he  stops  and 
refuses  to  judge  himself?  Do  you  commend 
this  wise  reserve?  Then  read  all  that  he  says 
about  this  matter  of  judging.  "I  judge  not 
mine  own  self.  For  I  know  (am  conscious 
of)  nothing  against  myself;  yet  am  I  not 
hereby  justified;  but  he  that  judgeth  me  is  the 


By  His  Life.  8i 

Lord.  \Mierefore  judge  nothing  before  the 
time,  until  the  Lord  come,  who  will  both 
bring  to  light  the  hidden  things  of  darkness, 
and  make  manifest  the  counsels  of  the  hearts ; 
and  then  shall  each  man  have  his  praise  from 
God." 

You  see  that  just  as  he  judged  not  him- 
self, he  commands  others  not  to  judge  him. 
His  own  perception  could  discover  nothing 
in  himself  but  the  Spirit  of  Christ — "For  me 
to  live  is  Christ."  His  conscience  acquitted 
him.  This  acquittal  might,  or  might  not, 
agree  with  the  judgment  of  his  omniscient 
Lord.  Only  the  last  day  could  show  how 
this  was.  As  he  therefore  held  his  judgment 
in  suspense,  others  should  hold  their  judg- 
ments in  suspense  concerning  him.  The  wise 
reserve  which  he  maintained,  his  fellow- 
Christians  must  maintain  when  they  spoke 
of  him.  And  yet  have  his  fellow-Christians 
in  all  cases  done  this  ?  Nay,  verily ;  repeat- 
edly the  reserve  has  been  broken  on  two  sides. 
On  one  side  some  have  declared  that  Paul 
and  every  Spirit-filled  man  with  him  did 
daily  break  the  commandments  of  God  in 
thought,  word,  and  deed.  On  the  other  side 
some  have  declared  that  Paul  and  every  other 
Spirit-filled  man  did  no  sin.  In  both  cases  a 
judgment  was  rendered  which  no  man  is  com- 
petent to  pronounce. 


82  By  His  Life. 

There  are  some  questions  which  God  has 
put  under  the  ban.  They  are  indeterminate 
here.  For  us  to  attempt  to  decide  them  is 
wrong.  'TooHsh  and  unlearned  questions 
avoid,"  says  the  Holy  Spirit,  ''knowing  that 
they  gender  strifes."  An  unlearned  question 
is  one  which  human  learning  cannot  solve, 
and  which  a  true  learning  therefore  avoids. 
Such  questions  are,  of  course,  foolish,  and  as 
the  discussion  of  them  can  lead  to  no  defi- 
nite result,  they  are  sure  to  excite  strife.  To 
this  class  belongs  the  question  whether  a  man 
filled  with  the  Spirit  of  Christ  is  sinning  in 
his  heart.  From  its  very  nature  no  human 
mind  can  penetrate  it  to  the  bottom  and  give 
a  true  answer.    Therefore  avoid  it ;  pass  it  by. 

If  the  man  who  believes  himself  to  be 
Spirit-filled  asserts  that  he  is  entirely  free 
from  sin,  he  takes  a  presumptuous  position, 
from  which  there  w411  probably  be  a  fall 
through  pride.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is 
declared  that  the  Spirit-filled  man  daily  sins 
in  thought,  word,  and  deed,  a  low  standard  of 
holy  living  is  set  forth,  Avhich  is  unwarranted 
by  God's  word,  and  which  leads  many  Chris- 
tians to  palliate  and  tolerate  their  sins.  In  a 
religious  paper  not  long  ago  an  incident  was 
told,  which  seemed  to  be  presented  as  an 
amusing  jest,  though  in  reality  it  has  a  very 
serious  side.     When  the  late  Justice  Strong, 


By  His  Life.  83 

of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
was  a  boy,  his  father,  who  was  a  minister, 
found  him  one  day  stealing  something  from 
the  cupboard.  ''Don't  you  know,  my  son,' 
said  .the  father,  ''that  you  are  breaking  one  of 
the  commandments  of  God?"  "Yes,  father," 
repHed  the  boy,  remembering  the  catechism 
he  had  been  taught ;  "you  know  that  every 
man  daily  breaks  the  commandments  in 
thought,  word,  and  deed."  It  is  to  be  feared 
that  many  Christians  of  riper  years  argue 
about  their  sins  as  did  this  boy.  "To  sin 
daily  in  thought,  word,  and  deed,"  they  say 
to  themselves,  "is  inevitable;  not  to  be  con- 
scious of  sins  we  are  committing  w^ould  be  a 
bad  state.  We. are  conscious  of  committing 
various  sins  daily,  therefore  we  are  in  the 
normal  and  unavoidable  condition  of  all 
Christian  men." 

In  opposition  to  this  low  standard  the  Word 
of  God  sets  up  the  standard  of  the  Spirit- 
filled  man.  He  is  one  with  Christ.  The  love 
of  God  is  in  his  heart  as  overflowing  waters 
of  joy.  His  delight  is  in  his  Father  in  heaven 
and  in  his  Redeemer.  He  is  always  praising 
and  giving  thanks.  He  loves  men  as  Christ 
loves  them;  he  suffers  for  them  as  Christ 
suffered.  In  all  humble  service  he  gives  his 
life  for  them.  He  pities  his  enemies,  and 
strives  to  do  them  good.    He  has  no  pleasure 


84  By  His  Life. 

when  they  fall ;  he  grieves.  Looking  up  to 
God  as  his  witness,  and  looking  his  fellow- 
men  in  the  face,  he  declares  that  his  conduct 
is  holy  and  just  and  unblameable.  In  the 
world  and  in  the  church  he  behaves  himself 
with  the  holiness  and  sincerity  of  God,  for 
God  lives  in  him  and  is  manifested  through 
him.  Though  he  is  perfect  now  through  this 
fulness  of  the  indwelling  of  Christ,  he  looks 
forward  with  the  utmost  eagerness  to  the  day 
when  he  shall  be  perfected  at  the  resurrection 
of  the  dead.  He  bends  every  energy  and 
presses  forward  that  he  may  win  the  prize, 
and  receive  from  his  beloved  Master  praise 
and  honor  in  that  day.  He  makes  no  preten- 
sion of  knowing  his  own  heart  in  all  its  secret 
recesses.  The  Lord  alone  must  be  his  judge. 
While  he  is  conscious  of  nothing  wrong  in 
his  life,  he  is  sure  that,  if  there  be  anything 
wrong  of  which  he  is  not  aware,  the  Lord 
will  reveal  this  to  him,^  and  it  will  be  cleansed 
away.    He  always  triumphs. 

This  is  no  merely  ideal  life  that  is  sketched. 
It  is  the  life  that  many  men  and  women  in  the 
primitive  church  actually  realized;  it  is  the 
life  now  offered  to  us.  Can  anyone  view  it 
and  not  stretch  out  the  hand  of  faith  gladly 
to  receive  it? 

iPhil.  iii.  15. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

An  Unclouded  Gospel. 

There  is  no  cloud  casting  a  shadow  over 
the  gospel.  As  given  to  us  by  our  Lord,  the 
message  of  life  is  radiant  with  sunshine  and 
joy.  "These  things  have  I  spoken  unto  you, 
that  my  joy  might  remain  in  you,  and  that 
your  joy  might  be  full."  "Ask  and  ye  shall 
receive,  that  your  joy  may  be  full."  "These 
things  speak  I  in  the  world,  that  they  might 
have  my  joy  fulfilled  in  themselves."  The 
disciple  who  leaned  upon  the  bosom  of  Jesus 
takes  up  the  words  that  sound  like  golden 
bells :  "These  things  write  we  unto  you,  that 
your  joy  may  be  full."  The  apostle  who  suf- 
fered above  all  others  in  the  service  of  his 
Master  is  the  one  who  emphasizes  the  most 
the  joy  of  the  life  in  Christ.  "Rejoice  in  the 
Lord  alway:  and  again  I  say  rejoice."  To 
be  filled  with  the  Spirit  is  to  be  filled  with 
joy.  It  is  to  sing  and  make  melody-  in  the 
heart  unto  the  Lord.  Joy  is  love  exulting  in 
the  presence  of  the  object  beloved.  "Whom 
having  not  seen,  ye  love;  in  whom  ye  rejoice 
with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory."    The 


86  By  His  Life. 

experience  of  the  Spirit-filled  men  and  women 
of  the  New  Testament  is  jubilant  triumph. 

Yet  you  will  meet  Christians  who  imagine 
there  is  a  sombre  cloud  resting  on  the  gospel. 
They  think  there  are  passages  in  the  New 
Testament  which  teach  that  every  Christian 
is  sinning  every  moment.  God  says  of  sin, 
''Oh,  do  not  this  abominable  thing  that  I 
hate."  Yet  these  Christians  suppose  that  God 
has  shown  us  in  his  word  that  we  inevitably 
do  this  abominable  and  hateful  thing  all  the 
time  in  his  presence,  as  long  as  we  live  in  this 
world.  Now,  if  a  man  can  have  no  better  life 
than  this,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  his  joy  can 
be  full  at  present ;  and  there  are  several  other 
things  told  us  by  our  Saviour  which  must 
be  hard  to  explain.  Still,  if  God  has  actually 
taught  us  in  his  word  what  these  Christians 
suppose  he  has  taught,  we  must  believe  him, 
whatever  be  the  difficulties  in  the  case.  But 
I  venture  to  think  that  a  misapprehension 
has  occurred  here,  and  that  some  statements 
of  God's  word  have  been  wrongly  understood. 
I  believe  that  when  they  are  understood 
aright,  it  will  be  found  that  there  is  nothing 
in  them  which  implies  that  all  Christians  are 
sinning  every  day. 

The  meaning  of  any  text  in  the  Bible  is 
never    certainly    known    until   the   spirit   in 


By  His  Life.  87 

which  it  was  written  is  clearly  understood. 
The  words  may  be  very  simple  and  direct; 
yet,  if  we  fail  to  apprehend  the  spirit  of  the 
writer,  we  may  be  misled  by  his  plainest 
statement.     Let  me  illustrate  what  I  mean. 

A  few  years  ago  Professor  Huxley  made 
the  remark  in  one  of  his  writings  that  the 
Apostle  Paul  had  thought  it  right  to  use  de- 
ceit in  order  to  advance  his  missionary  work. 
He  referred  to  the  words  in  the  Second  Epistle 
to  the  Corinthians:  ''Being  crafty,  I  caught 
you  with  guile."  It  was  pointed  out  to  Mr. 
Huxley  that,  while  he  had  quoted  the  words 
of  the  apostle  correctly,  he  had  entirely  mis- 
apprehended the  spirit  in  which  they  were 
written.  Paul  was  defending  himself  against 
a  charge  of  mercenary  design  in  his  work 
among  the  Corinthians.  He  wrote  to  them  in 
substance :  ''When  I  was  with  you,  I  received 
nothing  from  you ;  I  was  not  supported  by 
you.  When  I  come  again,  I  will  not  be  sup- 
ported by  you.  But  some  of  you  say  that, 
though  I  was  not  supported  by  you  myself, 
being  crafty  I  caught  you  with  guile;  that 
I  sent  some  of  my  fellow-workers  to  you,  and 
got  a  support  from  you  through  them.  The 
charge  is  not  true.  When  I  sent  Titus  and 
another  brother  to  you,  Titus  refused  to  re- 
ceive anything  from  you.     He  and  I  worked 


88  By  His  Life. 

in  the  same  spirit ;  we  walked  in  the  same 
path." 

You  see  now  Mr.  Huxley's  mistake.  The 
words  quoted  were  not  a  statement  by  Paul 
of  the  manner  in  which  he  had  worked  at 
Corinth ;  they  were  the  statement  of  a  charge 
brought  against  him  by  his  enemies.  When 
the  spirit  and  sense  of  the  passage  were 
pointed  out,  Mr.  Huxley  candidlv  acknowl- 
edged the  slip  he  had  made. 

Now  to  bring  the  matter  nearer  home.  I 
was  talking  one  day  with  a  friend  who 
thought  that  the  New  Testament  teaches  that 
every  Christian  is  sinning  all  the  time.  "Does 
not  the  Bible  say,"  she  asked,  "that  there  is 
none  that  doeth  good,  no,  not  one"?  "Yes," 
I  replied,  "the  Bible  does  say  that,  but 
where?"  And  I  turned  her  to  the  Third  Chap- 
ter of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  There  we 
find  a  description  of  the  natural  state  of  all 
men  without  the  gospel :  "There  is  none  that 
seeketh  after  God.  They  are  all  gone  out  of 
the  way,  they  are  together  become  unprofi- 
table; there  is  none  that  doeth  good,  no,  not 
one.  Their  throat  is  an  open  sepulchre ;  with 
their  tongues  they  have  used  deceit ;  the 
poison  of  asps  is  under  their  lips ;  whose 
mouth  is  full  of  cursing  and  bitterness  ;  their 
feet  are  swift  to  shed  blood."    Now  mv  friend 


By  His  Life.  89 

would  liave  been  shocked  if  anyone  had  asked 
whether  the  Bible  does  not  teach  that  every 
Christian  is  bitter,  murderous,  and  full  of 
cursing- ;  yet  there  would  be  the  same  ground 
for  this  question  as  for  the  question  she  asked 
me. 

In  a  similar  manner  we  hear  some  Chris- 
tians quote  the  statement  of  the  Apostle 
James:  "In  many  things  we  offend  all." 
They  seem  to  regard  this  as  a  confession  of 
James  that  he  and  all  other  Christians  were 
frequently,  if  not  constantly,  committing  sin. 
And  yet  James  says  in  the  same  passage,  "The 
tongue  is  full  of  deadly  poison.  Therewith 
bless  we  God.  even  the  Father ;  and  therewith 
curse  we  men,  which  are  made  after  the  simil- 
itude of  God.  Out  of  the  same  mouth  pro- 
ceedeth  blessing  and  cursing."  Are  we  to 
conclude  now  that  James  and  Paul  and  the 
beloved  John  cursed  men  with  tongues  full 
of  deadly  poison  ?  Yet  there  is  the  same  war- 
rant for  believing  this  as  for  believing  that 
they,  and  others  like  them,  did  in  many  things 
ofifend. 

In  the  ordinary  speech  of  our  modern  life 
we  do  not  so  misunderstand  men.  Here  is 
an  address  delivered  by  a  devout  evangelical 
Frenchman  to  his  countrymen.  He  says, 
"God  calls  us  to  be  a  righteous  nation.     He 


90  By  His  Life. 

wishes  us  to  be  pure.  But  we  people  of 
France  are  vainglorious ;  we  are  given  over 
to  worldly  pleasure ;  we  are  stained  with  im- 
morality." What  would  we  think  of  a  Chris- 
tian who,  after  reading  these  words,  should 
declare  that  this  good  Frenchman  has  con- 
fessed that  he  and  all  his  evangelical  asso- 
ciates are  given  over  to  worldly  pleasure  and 
stained  with  immorality?  Yet,  just  so  some 
Christians  have  treated  the  Apostle  James. 

Does  anyone  so  misunderstand  the  prophets 
of  the  Old  Testament?  Jeremiah,  the  purest 
and  noblest,  as  the  Jews  say,  of  all  the  pro- 
phets, breaks  out  in  Lamentations :  "We  have 
transgressed  and  we  have  rebelled ;  thou  hast 
not  pardoned.  The  crown  is  fallen  from  our 
head ;  woe  unto  us  that  we  have  sinned." 
Now  fancy  a  young  Jew  saying  to  himself, 
"Jeremiah  here  confesses  that  he  was  a  dis- 
honored transgressor,  and  did  much  that  was 
sinful.  I  cannot  hope  to  be  better  than  he." 
So  the  young  man  acquiesces  in  a  life  of  dis- 
honor as  inevitable,  and  allows  himself  to 
float  on  the  current  of  sin.  What  would  we 
think  of  such  a  handling  of  the  inspired 
word?  Yet  we  see  Christians  who  are  con- 
scious that  they  offend  in  many  things,  and 
solace  themselves  with  the  delusion  that  they 
are  not  far  from  the  apostolic  standard,  be- 


By  His  Life.  91 

cause  James  says,  "In  many  things  we  offend 
all." 

The  Apostle  James  wrote  at  a  time  when 
dark  evils  had  invaded  the  church.  Rich 
monopolists  occupied  the  best  seats  in  the 
Christian  assemblies;  poor  men  went  to  the 
wall.  The  same  tongues  that  blessed  God 
in  the  public  worship,  cursed  men  in  the  marts 
of  trade.  James  portrayed  the  sad  condition 
of  things.  In  doing  this  he  used  the  style 
which  prophets  and  wise  men  were  accus- 
tomed to  use  when  they  depicted  widespread 
evils  in  the  church.  'Tn  many  things  we 
offend  all.  We  bless  God  and  we  curse  men. 
Out  of  the  same  fountain  proceed  bitter 
waters  and  sweet."  But  did  James  intimate 
for  a  moment  that  such  a  state  of  things  was 
inevitable  among  Christians?  Far  from  it. 
*'My  brethren,  these  things  ought  not  so  to 
be."  He  points  to  the  sure  remedy  for  these 
evils,  within  the  reach  of  all  who  believe. 
"The  wisdom  that  is  from  above  is  first  pure, 
then  peaceable,  gentle,  and  easy  to  be  en- 
treated, full  of  mercy  and  good  fruits."  "If 
any  of  you  lack  wisdom,  let  him  ask  of  God, 
that  giveth  to  all  men  liberally,  and  upbraid- 
eth  not ;  and  it  shall  be  given  him."  The  wis- 
dom that  is  from  above  is  the  Holy  Spirit. 
God's  liberal  gift  is  the  fulness  of  the  vSpirit ; 


92  By  His  Life. 

and  the  fulness  of  the  Spirit,  as  we  saw,  is 
the  perfection  of  the  New  Testament.  James 
clearly  indicates  the  marks  of  this  perfection, 
and  urges  his  fellows-Christians  to  obtain  it. 
"If  any  man  offend  not  in  word,  the  same  is 
a  perfect  man."  ''Let  patience  have  her  per- 
fect work,  that  ye  may  be  perfect  and  entire, 
w^anting-  nothing."  Is  it  possible  that  any 
Christian  can  prefer  the  state  of  a  double- 
tongued,  money-worshipping  church — "  in 
many  things  we  offend  all" — to  the  state  of 
the  man  filled  with  the  Spirit  of  wisdom — 
"perfect  and  entire,  wanting  nothing" ! 

There  is  another  text  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment wdiich  I  wish  to  notice,  for  I  think  it 
has  misled  not  a  few^  Christians.  The  Apostle 
John  whites  in  his  First  Epistle,  "If  we  say 
that  we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive  ourselves, 
and  the  truth  is  not  in  us."  A  Christian  min- 
ister recently  published  a  series  of  papers,  in 
which  he  put  forward  this  text  as  a  proof 
that  every  Christian  sins  every  moment.  If 
we  do  not  admit  that  w^e  sin  constantly,  was 
his  argument,  w^e  deceive  ourselves.  Now,  on 
the  face  of  it  there  was  something  remark- 
able in  this  interpretation.  The  Apostle  John 
declares  that  his  object  in  writing  the  passage 
in  which  the  text  occurs  is,  that  his  fellow- 
Christians  mav  not  sin.     ''These  thines  write 


By  His  Life.  93 

I  unto  you,  that  ye  sin  not."  Yet  here  was  a 
Christian  teacher  using  the  text  to  prove  to 
his  fellow-Christians  that  they  would  surely 
sin  every  moment.  The  object  of  the  Apostle 
John  and  the  object  of  the  modern  writer 
were  widely  diverse. 

The  passage  that  John  wrote  opens  to  us  a 
wonderful  view  of  God  giving  us  his  own  life, 
with  cleansing  power.  John  tells  us  how 
clearly  the  life  was  manifested  to  us  by  Jesus 
Christ.  Now  we  are  sharers  in  the  life.  We 
have  fellowship,  we  possess  all  in  common, 
with  the  Father  and  with  the  Son.  "All  are 
yours."  "My  beloved  is  mine,  and  I  am  his." 
God  is  light.  If  we  have  fellowship  with 
him,  we  walk  in  the  light.  To  walk  in  the 
light  is  to  "walk  in  love,  as  Christ  also  hath 
loved  us  and  hath  given  himself  for  us."  So 
"if  we  walk  in  the  light,  as  he  is  in  the  light, 
we  have  fellowship  one  with  another,  and  the 
blood  of  Jesus  Christ  his  Son  cleanseth  us 
from  all  sin." 

The  blood  cleanses  from  the  guilt  of  sin — 
a  precious  truth,  yet  only  a  part  of  the  truth. 
"The  blood  is  the  life."^  "My  blood  is  drink 
indeed."  "He  that  eateth  my  flesh  and  drink- 
eth  my  blood,  dwelleth  in  me,  and  I  in  him." 
"Eat,   O   friends;   drink,   yea,   drink   abund- 

'  Deut.  xii.  23. 


94  By  His  Life. 

antly,  O  beloved."  The  blood  cleanses  from 
the  pollution  of  sin  by  filling  us  with  the  life 
of  Christ.  It  cleanses  from  all  sin.  There  is 
no  limit  set  here.  "Wash  me,  and  I  shall  be 
whiter  than  snow."  But  it  cleanses  only  those 
who  confess  their  sins.  'Tf  we  say  that  we 
have  no  sin,  we  deceive  ourselves,  and  the 
truth  is  not  in  us.  If  we  confess  our  sins,  he 
is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and 
to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness."  Con- 
fession of  sins  brings  not  only  forgiveness, 
but  cleansing  from  all  unrighteousness — 
again  no  limit  set.  When  the  prodigal  said, 
"Father,  I  have  sinned,"  the  father  said, 
"Bring  forth  the  best  robe,  and  put  it  on 
him."  So  our  fellowship  with  God  has  ful- 
ness of  joy,  and  we  live  that  we  may  sin  no 
more.  "My  little  children,  these  things  write 
I  unto  you,  that  ye  sin  not." 

And  now,  with  this  light  of  God  in  you  and 
around  you,  are  you  willing  to  accept  the 
presence  of  sin  in  your  life  as  inevitable?  I 
hope  not.  God  has  made  us  sharers  of  his 
own  holy  life,  that  we  may  walk  in  the  light 
as  he  is  in  the  light ;  and  he  has  set  no  limit 
to  this.  He  wishes  to  impart  to  us  the  ful- 
ness of  his  own  joy,  and  he  has  set  no  limit  to 
this.  He  gives  us  all  the  purifying  power 
that  is  in  the  life  of  his  Son,  that  we  may  be 


By  His  Life.  95 

cleansed  from  all  sin,  and  he  sets  no  limit  to 
this.  And  shall  we  say,  either  through  indif- 
ference or  through  despondence,  that  we  ex- 
pect sin  to  be  in  us  constantly,  though  we  be 
thus  the  children  of  God  ?  Does  the  best  robe 
in  our  Father's  house  carry  in  its  folds  the 
evil  odors  of  the  swine?  Does  the  richest 
feast  of  his  board  suggest  in  its  flavor  the 
husks  of  a  famished  land?  When  he  says, 
"Son,  thou  art  ever  with  me,"  is  there  no 
such  thing  as  unbroken  fellowship?  When 
he  adds,  ''and  all  that  I  have  is  thine,"  is  there 
no  such  thing  as  fulness  of  possession? 
When  he  speaks  to  us  the  words,  ''cleanseth 
from  all  sin,"  must  we  daily  say,  "Not  all, 
Lord ;  only  some"  ? 

Nay;  the  Apostle  John  adds  statement  to 
statement  in  this  epistle  to  show  us  that  there 
is  no  limit  to  be  set  to  the  cleansing  from  sin 
in  this  life.  "Whosoever  abideth  in  him  sin- 
neth  not."  "Hereby  know  we  that  we  abide 
in  him,  and  he  in  us,  because  he  hath  given 
us  of  his  Spirit."  (R.  V.)  "Beloved,  if  our 
heart  condemn  us  not,  we  have  boldness  to- 
wards God.  And  whatsoever  we  ask,  we  re- 
ceive of  him,  because  we  keep  his  command- 
ments, and  do  the  things  that  are  pleasing  in 
his  sight."  (R.  V.)  "He  that  committeth 
sin  is  of  the  devil ;  for  the  devil  sinneth  from 


g6  By  His  Life. 

the  beginning.  For  this  purpose  the  Son  of 
God  was  manifested,  that  he  might  destroy 
the  works  of  the  devil."  "This  is  the  bold- 
ness that  we  have  in  him,  that,  if  w^e  ask  any- 
thing according  to  his  will,  he  heareth  us; 
and  if  we  know  that  he  heareth  us,  whatso- 
ever we  ask,  w^e  know  that  we  have  the  peti- 
tions which  we  have  asked  of  him."  (R.  V.) 
So  the  beloved  disciple  follows  his  Master  in 
persuading  us  not  to  set  a  limit  to  the  blessed 
work  which  he,  the  Son  of  God,  does  in  us. 

The  returned  prodigal,  though  he  had  the 
best  robe  and  the  ring  and  the  sandals,  could 
never  forget  the  pain  he  had  sent  to  his  fath- 
er's heart  by  his  guilty  wanderings.  The 
munificence  of  his  father's  love  deepened  his 
self-reproach.  At  every  thought  of  the  past 
he  felt  that  he  had  but  one  place  of  rest, 
though  that  was  assured — his  father's  forgiv- 
ing grace.  He  was  washed  ;  he  was  cleansed ; 
his  heart  was  filled  with  joy  and  grateful  de- 
votion: yet  the  boundless  generosity  lavished 
on  him  only  made  him  the  more  loathe  him- 
self for  wdiat  he  had  been.  So  Paul  the  apos- 
tle could  never  forget  the  days  when  he  had 
been  Saul  the  persecutor.  'T  am  the  least  of 
the  apostles,  that  am  not  meet  to  be  called  an 
apostle,  because  I  persecuted  the  church  of 
God."    As  to  purity  of  life  and  value  of  ser- 


By  His  Life.  97 

vice  done  for  God  in  tlie  world,  he  knew  that 
he  was  unsurpassed  in  the  college  of  the 
apostles.  "In  nothing,"  he  said,  "am  I  be- 
hind the  very  chiefest  apostles."  "I  laboured 
more  abundantly  than  they  all."  But  the 
memory  of  what  he  had  been  before  Christ 
became  his  life  humbled  him  in  the  dust. 

With  still  greater  emphasis,  in  writine 
his  First  Epistle  to  Timothy  and  speaking  of 
the  time  when  he  had  been  "a  blasphemer  and 
a  persecutor  and  injurious,"  he  pronounced 
himself  to  be  the  chief  of  sinners.  Just  here 
a  remarkable  feature  of  the  case  emerges, 
which  is  presented  as  a  strong  encourage- 
ment to  us.  The  judgment  which  he  pro- 
nounced on  himself  originated  with  the  Lord 
Jesus.  The  Saviour  of  men  had  chosen  him 
to  be  the  eminent  example  of  sovereign  grace. 

We  may  imagine  a  king  dealing  with  a 
province  in  his  dominions,  which  is  wholly 
in  revolt.  He  issues  a  proclamation  of  am- 
nesty, offering  pardon  and  the  fulness  of  the 
royal  favor  to  everyone  who  will  submit.  But 
the  revolted  subjects  are  suspicious  and  un- 
believing ;  they  hold  back.  So  he  chooses  the 
man  who  has  been  the  head  and  front  of  the 
rebellion ;  the  man  who  is  the  most  aggres- 
sive of  all  the  foes  of  the  kingdom;  the  one 
whose  hands  are  the  deepest  dyed  in  the  blood 


98  By  His  Life. 

of  the  king's  friends.  He  pardons  this  man, 
and  takes  him  into  his  most  intimate  confi- 
dence; he  loads  him  with  benefits.  Then  he 
sends  him  out  as  a  messenger  to  ah  who  are 
in  revolt.  The  pardoned  leader  stands  before 
his  former  associates.  "You  may  certainly 
trust  the  word  of  the  king  in  this  matter;''  he 
says.  "I  am  the  chief  of  rebels ;  the  king  has 
pardoned  me.  He  has  made  me  his  friend; 
he  has  loaded  me  with  privileges  and  riches. 
Everyone  of  you  may  now  confidently  accept 
his  offer.  If  he  did  so  much  for  me,  you  may 
be  sure  he  is  ready  to  do  as  much  for  anyone 
of  you." 

Such  is  the  statement  Paul  makes  to  a  mis- 
trustful, unbelieving  world.  In  the  presence 
of  all  sinners  he  stands  as  the  vilest  of  the 
vile.  We  see  him  a  man  of  wonderful  capac- 
ities and  powers.  Every  capacity  had  been 
filled  with  hatred  to  Christ ;  every  power  had 
been  directed  against  Christ's  kingdom  on 
earth.  His  hands  were  red  w4th  the  blood  of 
saints.  He  was  the  ravening  wolf  of  the  tribe 
of  Benjamin.  He  was  the  ringleader  of 
rebels.  In  the  proud,  hard,  self-righteous 
class  that  God  declared  to  be  a  smoke  in  his 
nostrils,  he  was  a  Pharisee  of  the  Pharisees. 
He  was  the  chief  of  sinners.  And  because 
he  was  the  worst  of  all,  Jesus  Christ  chose 


By  His  Life.  99 

him  and  saved  him,  that  no  sinner  might 
afterwards  doubt ;  that  every  sinner  might  be 
free  to  accept.  And  so  Paul  turns  to  a  world 
of  revolted  oflfenders;  he  reminds  them  that 
he  had  persecuted,  blasphemed,  outraged  the 
king;  and  he  says,  "It  is  a  faithful  saying, 
and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ 
Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  of 
whom  I  am  chief.  Howbeit,  for  this  cause  I 
obtained  mercy,  that  in  me  as  chief  (R.  V.) 
Jesus  Christ  might  show  forth  all  long  suffer- 
ing, for  a  pattern  to  them  which  should  here- 
after believe  on  him  to  life  everlasting."  Here 
is  the  most  wonderful  example  of  a  sinner 
saved.  If  the  Redeemer  of  men  did  so  much 
for  me,  v/ill  he  not  do  as  much  for  you  ?  This 
is  the  message  of  Paul  to  the  world. 

And  now  1  think  we  may  understand 
clearly  the  self-loathing  of  the  man  who  is 
filled  with  the  Spirit  of  God.  He  loathes 
himself  for  that  which  he  remembers.  He 
is  filled  with  love  to  God  and  love  to  men,  and 
the  light  in  which  he  walks  shows  him  how 
horrible  was  the  sin  which  he  did.  I  said  that 
there  is  no  cloud  casting  a  shadow  over  the 
gospel.  Self-loathing  is  not  a  shadow.  It  is 
the  clear,  gladsome,  all-illuminating  sun  re- 
vealing the  pit  from  which  we  are  saved.  It 
is   the   rescued   man   washed   and   cleansed, 


loo  By  His  Life. 

loathing  the  mire  with  which  he  was  defiled. 
Such  is  the  account  of  self-loathing  which 
God  gives  us  in  a  promise  that  glitters  with 
the  purity  which  he  bestows  on  his  people. 
Listen  to  the  gracious  words : 

"Then  will  I  sprinkle  clean  water  upon 
you,  and  ye  shall  be  clean ;  from  all  your 
filth iness,  and  from  all  your  idols,  will  I 
cleanse  you.  A  new  heart  also  will  I  give 
you,  and  a  new  spirit  w411  I  put  within  you : 
and  I  will  take  away  the  stony  heart  out  of 
your  flesh,  and  I  will  give  you  an  heart  of 
flesh.  And  1  will  put  my  Spirit  within  you, 
and  cause  you  to  walk  in  my  statutes,  and  ye 
shall  keep  my  judgments,  and  do  them.  And 
ye  shall  dwell  in  the  land  that  I  gave  to  your 
fathers ;  and  ye  shall  be  my  people,  and  I  will 
be  your  God.  I  will  also  save  you  from  all 
your  uncleannesses ;  and  I  will  call  for  the 
corn,  and  will  increase  it,  and  lay  no  famine 
upon  you.  And  I  will  multiply  the  fruit  of 
the  tree,  and  the  increase  of  the  field,  that  ye 
shall  receive  no  more  reproach  of  famine 
among  the  heathen.  Then  shall  ye  remember 
your  own  evil  ways,  and  your  doings  that 
were  not  good,  and  shall  loathe  yourselves  in 
your  own  sight,  for  your  iniquities  and  for 
your  abominations."^ 

'  Ezek.  xxxvi.  25,  31, 


By  His  Life.  ioi 

Here  is  a  self-loathing  where  all  is  purity 
and  joy.  In  the  experience  of  Canaan  de- 
lights, in  the  land  of  corn  and  wine  and  oil, 
in  the  day  when  all  his  filthiness  and  all  his 
imcleannesses  have  been  washed  away,  in  the 
full  possession  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  walking 
in  his  statutes  and  keeping  his  judgments, 
the  child  of  God,  remembering  the  past  that 
was  evil  and  the  days  that  were  not  good, 
loathes  himself  in  his  own  sight.  "In  me,  that 
is,  in  my  flesh,  dwelleth  no  good  thing" — 
this  is  the  self-loathing  of  Paul.  It  was  in 
the  flesh  he  slew  the  saints ;  it  was  in  the 
flesh  he  hated  Christ.  But  what  does  he  say 
of  the  flesh  after  all  his  filthiness  has  been 
cleansed?  ''Henceforth  know  we  no  man 
after  the  flesh :  even  though  we  have  known 
Christ  after  the  flesh,  yet  now  we  know  him 
so  no  more."^  The  pure  Spirit  of  his  forgiv- 
ing King  dw^elt  in  him  and  filled  him.  The 
love  of  Christ  constrained  him.  Old  things 
had  passed  away ;  all  things  were  now  new. 

Beloved,  let  us  remember  the  command 
which  Paul,  speaking  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  has 
given  us.    ''Be  ye  imitators  of  me." 

•2  Cor.  V.  16,  R.  V. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Closing  Words. 

The  last  invitation  of  love  sent  down  from 
heaven  by  Jesus  Christ  to  men  is  that  they 
come  and  receive  the  Holy  Spirit  in  his  ful- 
ness. ''Whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the 
water  of  life  freely."  The  water  of  life  is 
his  own  Spirit  of  life.  Such  is  his  urgency 
in  this  matter  that  he  issues  commands  which, 
if  obeyed,  will  make  the  earth  vocal  with  the 
invitation  to  accept  the  Spirit.  The  church, 
the  bride  of  Christ,  is  presented  as  lifting  up 
her  voice  in  the  power  of  the  Spirit  and  say- 
ing, Come.  "The  Spirit  and  the  bride  say. 
Come."  Everyone  who  hears  the  message  is 
enjoined  to  repeat  it,  extending  it  to  all 
around.  ''Let  him  that  heareth  say,  Come." 
Everyone  who  feels  any  dissatisfaction,  any 
longing,  any  unrest,  is  entreated  to  come. 
"Let  him  that  is  athirst  come."  And  then, 
that  every  human  being  may  know  that  the 
invitation  is  as  broad  as  the  earth  and  leaves 
out  no  one,  the  final  words  are,  "Whosoever 
will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely." 
Such  is  the  longing  desire  of  our  beloved 
King  that  all  men  may  be  saved  by  his  life. 


By  His  Life.  103 

In  the  closing  part  of  the  epistle  in  which 
these  words  occur — "saved  by  his  life" — we 
are  besought,  by  the  mercies  of  God,  to  pre- 
sent our  bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  ac- 
ceptable to  God.  Does  the  expression,  "liv- 
ing sacrifice,"  seem  to  anyone  to  carry  a  for- 
bidding sound?  Do  you  find  yourself  in  any 
degree  shrinking  from  the  consecration  to 
God  which  the  words  imply?  Let  me  assure 
you  that  such  a  consecration  is  simply  the 
opening  of  the  channel  by  which  the  waters 
of  life  and  power  may  flow  in  to  make  you 
glad.  It  is  the  signal  for  the  beginning  of  a 
song  and  melody  in  your  heart  which  will 
grow  richer  and  deeper  as  the  years  go  on. 
It  is  the  repetition  of  that  hour  of  triumphant 
praise  when  "Hezekiah  commanded  to  offer 
the  burnt  offering  upon  the  altar.  And  when 
the  burnt  offering  began,  the  song  of  the 
Lord  began  also  with  the  trumpets,  and  with 
the  instruments  of  David.  The  singers  sang, 
and  the  trumpeters  sounded."  It  is  commit- 
ting yourself  into  the  hands  of  infinite  love 
and  wisdom,  to  be  guided  and  kept  for  your 
good  always.  The  living  sacrifice  means  the 
highest  possible  success  in  life. 

And  yet,  let  no  one  of  us  disguise  from  him- 
self the  fact  that,  if  we  are  saved  by  the  life 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we  must  partici- 


104  By  His  Life. 

pate  in  the  sufferings  of  his  life.  I  need  not 
tell  you  what  those  sufferings  were.  His  own 
friends  said  that  he  was  beside  himself.  The 
ecclesiastical  leaders  of  the  day  declared  that 
he  had  a  devil.  He  was  despised  and  re- 
jected of  men.  And  when  his  life  was  mani- 
fested in  Paul  and  the  other  apostles,  the  re- 
sult was  the  same.  They  were  treated  as  the 
filth  of  the  world  and  as  the  offscouring  of 
all  things.  In  this  matter  the  history  of  the 
centuries  does  not  change.  The  saying  is  of 
universal  application :  "All  that  will  live 
godly  in  Christ  Jesus  shall  suffer  persecu- 
tion." 

Some  who  see  this  condition  of  things  draw 
l^ack  from  the  fulness  of  the  Christ-life. 
The  spies  who  refused  to  enter  Canaan  af- 
firmed that  it  was  "a  land  that  eateth  up  the 
inhabitants  thereof."  So  there  are  men  now 
who  decline  to  "go  on  unto  perfection,"  or  to 
take  as  their  inheritance  "the  fulness  of  the 
blessing  of  Christ."  They  perceive  that  this 
is  a  region  in  which  the  inhabitants  are  stig- 
matized as  "cranks,"  "fanatics,"  "mystics," 
possibly  w^orse,  and  either  ecclesiastically  or 
socially  are  consumed. 

But,  beloved,  if,  under  the  guidance  of  the 
Spirit  of  truth,  you  enter  this  rich  inheritance, 
you  v/ill  find  that  all  afflictions  which  come  on 


By  His  Life.  105 

you  are  indeed  light.  Well  does  the  Master 
say  to  each  one  of  us,  '.'Fear  none  of  those 
things  which  thou  shalt  suffer."  In  the  world 
you  will  have  tribulation ;  in  him  you  will 
have  peace.  He  will  stand  by  you  and  help 
you.  His  love  will  be  to  you  better  than  wine. 
If  you  are  cast  out  of  the  synagogue,  he  will 
come  to  you  with  words  of  comfort  and  cheer. 
If  you  are  beaten  in  the  council,  you  will  de- 
part rejoicing  that  you  are  counted  worthy 
to  suffer  shame  for  his  name.  He  will  so  fill 
you  with  his  own  Spirit  of  pity  that  you  will 
bless  them  who  persecute  you ;  and  he  may 
give  you  the  great  joy  of  seeing  some  of  them 
receive  the  blessing  which  you  and  others 
know  to  be  more  precious  than  all  riches. 
Though  you  may  now  be  misunderstood  and 
misrepresented,  you  will  look  forward  with 
confidence  to  the  day  when  all  that  is  hidden 
shall  be  brought  to  light ;  and  you  will  knov/ 
surely  that  in  that  day,  when  the  books  are 
opened  and  the  dead  are  judged  out  of  those 
things  which  are  written  in  the  books,  your 
name  will  be  found  written  in  the  book  of  the 
life  of  the  Lamb ;  for  even  now  you  are  "saved 
bv  his  life." 


DATE  DUE 

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Demco,  Inc.  38-293 

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